Does the San Diego teachers union help senior members at the expense of junior members?

Don't you love this teacher's name?

Teacher Implores Union to Renegotiate
Jun 14, 2011.
by Emily Alpert

The big battle in San Diego Unified right now is whether to tear up pink slips for teachers and other school workers. The school board has pressed its unions to take more unpaid leave and put off promised raises, saying it could then afford to spare some jobs in the long-term.

The teachers union turned down that proposal last week, arguing it was an unnecessary concession that tried to pit teachers against one another. Almost all teachers that I've heard from loathe the idea, saying that San Diego Unified can just cancel the layoffs now that state financial projections have improved.

So I was intrigued to get this email from Sarah Mathy, a pink-slipped teacher who says the union is protecting senior members at the expense of junior ones. It's a letter that she sent earlier this month to Bill Freeman, the president of the San Diego Education Association. (That's abbreviated in the letter as SDEA.)

We often hear this debate between politicians. But how does this debate play out between teachers? I've asked Freeman to write back and he said he planned to do so. I'll post his letter when we get it.

Dear Mr. Freeman -

In early March, I emailed you to discuss my feelings about how the union could best act during this layoff process. You generously came to my school to meet with many of us on the day we received our first layoff notice. I appreciate your time and interest in our school and in us.

In March, I was asking you to negotiate with SDUSD so that many (all?) of the layoffs could be avoided. I called for things such as extra furlough days and opening the health benefits package negotiation. I wanted our union to get creative about the endless possibilities for solving this problem so that jobs are saved and kids are served.

But so far, all I have received are layoff notices #1 and #2 from SDUSD, and emails from SDEA calling me to more action and more rallies.

This is not what I want.

And the unspoken but clear message being sent to me from SDEA is that you are a union that wants to prioritize the interests of the senior, not junior, members. That when SDEA is not "winning" the battles with SDUSD, it will put the junior members out in the name of protecting the senior.

All along, it has seemed like a very logical fix to me to negotiate with SDUSD so that the weight of this budget crises is distributed on the shoulders of all SDEA teachers, not just on a few hundred. That is solidarity. That is "together we are stronger." I feel instead like SDEA's hostage and not SDUSD's (as you mentioned in a recent SDEA email blast).

So the questions become: "WHO is SDEA working for?" and "WHAT is SDEA working for?" Unfortunately for my situation, the WHO seems to be the senior members, and the WHAT is status quo for salary and benefits for those who will remain.

That will not work in this current fiscal crisis. You need to negotiate with SDUSD and launch a campaign to convince SDEA members that this is the best option.

I don't think you will have as much opposition to a contract re-negotiation as you may think. Many of my SDEA colleagues unaffected by layoff notices believe in some form of contract modifications so that we all can have our jobs. It will then be your work to collaborate with SDUSD and SDEA teachers to find a compromise that works for everyone. It is not black and white. There are gray areas of the contract where you can slide the scale and still have people satisfied with their level of pay and benefits, and pleased with their lowered class sizes and staff stability at work, and, as taxpayers, happy that the students are getting what they deserve.

We work in a dynamic profession with multi-faceted students, and I want my union to mirror that. With some salary or benefits alterations, we can all keep the jobs we love to do, live comfortably and take care of our families, and make sure that students get the most of everything. This has to be an AND situation, not EITHER/OR.

So I trust that with the same confidence and care with which you engaged my concerns in March, that you move SDEA into a new chapter where we can feel more like brothers and sisters, instead of the haves and have-nots.

Thank you for your continued work.

Sincerely,
SARAH MATHY
Teacher for 6 years at Central Elementary





COMMENT

Michael Dunn:

Unfortunately, this is typical in most unions. The unions say, "well, it is the district's right under Ed Code to layoff teachers when budgets are tight." Apparently, they feel there is nothing they can do since it is not a contractual violation. (In the name of transparency, I am a union organizer and leg rep and have sat in on several layoff hearings for colleagues).

What unions can do (but are generally unwilling to do) is take a much more aggressive position in defense of all their members, including the threat of striking to defend jobs, salaries, class sizes and educational programs.

By the way, they are not just throwing the younger teachers under the bus. UTLA's continued willingness to give up furlough days in exchange for reduced layoffs, forces all teachers to accept a pay cut and still throws some teachers under the bus.

I also think that unions have become so obsessed with playing politics and maintaining a seat at the table, that they have lost sight of their main function: organizing, educating and agitating their members. Veteran teachers are much more likely to already have an appreciation for their union. The younger teachers do not necessarily. They need to be listened to , supported, and encouraged to participate by the union reps, something that is shamefully rare these days.