In These Times

Winter Advocacy Retreat will heat up Miami!

‘Organizing for Power!’ kicks off Retreat agenda

Against a national back drop of anti-union legislation, demands for salary and benefit rollbacks, and staff cuts, NSO members signed up for the Thursday, all-day session, “Organizing for Power-Module 1” to learn strategies to combat the attacks.

Organizing for Power! is one of NSO’s premier training programs designed to build stronger and more effective staff unions. Since it was first presented, more than 650 staff have taken the skills they learned in the program back home to their own affiliates. While Module 1 provides an educational foundation for organizing, there will be five modules in the program that use the Constant Organizing Goals (COG) method.

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An injury to one is an injury to all

At Thursday’s Presidents Meeting, state affiliate presidents got a lesson in trickle-down economics. NSO President Chuck Agerstrand detailed the impact membership losses are having on not only individual states, but also on NEA and ultimately, NSO. Anti-union sentiment and legislation that’s raging across the country is translating into serious membership losses and staff cuts.  

Fifteen states are considered to be financially distressed because of membership loss and their very survival is in jeopardy.  And because of financial hardship, 41 state executives are on NEA’s payroll instead of being paid by their state. Two states—Indiana and South Carolina—remain under an NEA trusteeship.

Unfortunately, North Carolina is an example of the kind of problems facing state affiliates. Recent legislation ended payroll dues deduction so an alternative way of collecting dues has to be devised in order to continue doing business.

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First-time attendees have a passion to learn

This year, more than half of the 460 registered Winter Advocacy Retreat participants are first-time attendees. They may be associate or professional NSO members from different parts of the country, but they share a common purpose in being here—they want to be involved and learn.

First-time attendees had a chance to meet and network Thursday afternoon. It was clear that they were in the room because they had either been “volunteered” or “reeled in” by their fellow NSO members who saw potential.

“This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Not only did my fellow union brothers and sisters encourage me, but even my managers told me to come here and learn something,” said Kimberly Bretao, associate staff from California.

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State affiliates prevail in recent arbitration decisions

After three day of hearing, an arbitrator has ruled that the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) did not have just cause for termination of a member of the North Carolina Staff Organization (NCSO). The grievant will be made whole.

Arbitrator Linda Byars cited NCEA’s failure to follow its own progressive discipline policy and failure to provide adequate documentation to support the termination as reasons for her decision.

In another case, a Missouri Staff Organization (MSO) employee’s grievance was sustained by arbitrator Mark Suardi. The MSO member had been reprimanded, but Suardi ruled that there was no behavior that required discipline and found the testimony of MSO members to be more credible than that of the employer. The arbitrator also ordered all information leading to the discipline to be removed from the employer’s files.

In this case, there were two positive outcomes. As a result of the decision, several issues were resolved through the mediation process.

NLRB swears in Obama’s appointments amid controversy

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) swore in three new members this week, despite the continuing controversy over the legality of the appointments.

To bypass Senate confirmation, President Obama used recess appointments to name Democrat Richard Griffin, Democrat Sharon Block, and Republican Terrance Flynn to the Board. The appointments restore a Democratic majority and quorum to the Board.

Griffin was most recently general counsel of the International Union of Operating Engineers.
Block is a former Labor Department deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs and Flynn was chief counsel to Republican Board member Brian Hayes.

Republicans are crying foul, claiming the appointments were illegal since technically the Senate was in recess. This week they launched an investigation into the appointments by requesting documents relative to the appointees’ qualifications and the president’s legal authority to make the appointments.

Obama acted quickly so the Board could function. The Board has a backlog of approximately 175 cases and could not rule on them without a quorum—lost with the expiration of Craig Becker’s term. The appointments also allow the Board to make new rules that impact union organizing and workplace policies.

Two recently passed NLRB rules have angered business groups and Republicans who fear they will give unions more power in the workplace—at employer’s expense. One rule effective April 30 speeds up union-organizing elections by making it harder for employers to use legal challenges to delay voting. The other rule requires companies to post notices informing workers of their rights to join a union. Business groups are suing to block this rule.

It really doesn’t come as any surprise then that in the current anti-union atmosphere, Republicans and corporations are fighting the appointments.

Hot Spots

• North Carolina – A Wake County Superior Court judge granted the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) a temporary restraining order that blocks the recently-approved state law prohibiting the automatic deduction of dues from members’ paychecks. In a special 12:45 a.m. House session last week, Republican legislators maneuvered an override of Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto of the original bill. The judge agreed that NCAE would suffer irreparable harm if the law had been enacted. There are Republican leaders who are unhappy with NCAE’s political and lobbying activities and the bill would serve as payback.
• Indiana – The push is on by Republican legislators and Gov. Mitch Daniels to turn Indiana into a right-to-work state (RTW). Hearings on HB 1001 and SB 269 began this week. If legislation passes, Indiana will become the 23rd right-to-work state and the first Midwest state with such a policy. To add insult to injury, Indiana has imposed a new limit on the number of people who can be in the state capitol at one time. Under the new limit, 3,000 people—which includes the 1,700 state employees who work there—can assemble at any given time. Michigan Republican legislators are watching the situation in their neighboring state carefully and also have RTW legislation ready to go.