I had the awesome opportunity to represent NEA and keynote at the Virginia Education Association Delegate Assembly, which was held last weekend in Roanoke, VA. I, then joined a panel discussion with Virginia’s 3 NEA Directors. In recognition of our current reality and in solidarity with our local and state affiliates across the country, I share my remarks with you.
Thank you . . .
There is truly no place like home. It’s great to see all of my old friends and so many new faces.
[Acknowledgements . . . ]
Good evening!
The time: 1900 – The Gilded Age
The place: New York City
The event: the founding of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, ILGWU, by Jewish, Italian, Scot-Irish and Irish immigrants
The goal: to unite the various crafts and increase their mutual strength in a rapidly growing industry.
The challenge: early resistance from the garment manufacturers with whom the ILGWU collectively bargained.
Jump to March 25, 1911
The time: 4:45 pm
The place: 245 Greene Street, Manhattan, NY
The event: the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
The tragedy: the deaths of 146 people ranging from age 14 to 43, most of whom were women
The result: the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory is widely considered a pivotal moment in history leading to the adoption of fire safety measures, the monitoring of conditions in factories, and most importantly the transformation of labor code.
The legislative reform that took place at the state and local level was the direct result of hard working grass root efforts conducted by the ILGWU and other unions…people… just like us. By 1915, 36 of the laws that were drafted were enacted by the New York State Legislature. These laws went on to serve as models for other states. Twenty years after that, Roosevelt’s New Deal passed similar legislation at the federal level with the aid of many of the individuals and unions who were responsible for the overhaul of the New York labor code.
Fast forward one hundred years.
The time: March, 2011
The place: Alabama, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Alaska
The event: the start of a coordinated effort by political rascals to strip select public worker unions of the right to collectively bargain for wages, benefits, and working conditions along with the free choice of having dues payroll deducted.
The goal: to break the back of the public education unions. What an interesting way to recognize the centennial anniversary of the fire.
The challenge: are we going to let them do that?
So what role can the VEA play in this scenario?
We can be instrumental in many areas of representation.
Solidarity is the first area that comes to mind – it is because of our statements of solidarity, demonstrations of unity, and chanting cries for workers rights that a judge in Wisconsin has declared that Governor Scott Walker’s bill is not in effect and that the Walker administration should not be implementing it.
The same people who stood in the streets of Madison for a month promising to stop Scott Walker have filed recall papers on Dan Kapanke, one of the state Senators who voted for Walker’s bill.
In Ohio, Governor Kasich’s bill signing “victory” celebration has been overshadowed by reports of his basement-level poll numbers and a citizen’s veto of the unpopular measure.
Alabama survived another challenge from their lawmakers this week, as the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that teachers could continue to pay association dues through payroll deductions.
While this is a huge victory, they are not out of the woods yet. The five-page ruling left the matter less clear in regard to payroll deductions for political action committees.
Nonetheless, this victory has reminded all of us of the power of solidarity and why engagement is so important.
Yes, Engagement – Now is the time and opportunity to learn from the past, be responsive to the present, and proactive in promoting a better future.
As one of only five states in the nation who do NOT have collective bargaining and have deemed it illegal, we, in Virginia, have the opportunity to serve as the role model for thinking innovatively, advocating creatively, and working collaboratively to achieve a common goal.
Other states will be looking to us because they have not had to engage members on the same level that we have. In collective bargaining states, everyone belongs either at full dues with full membership benefits or agency fee payments for benefiting from bargaining representation. We, on the other hand, have to look our members and potential members in the eyes each year and give them a verbal reason to want to belong.
You have demonstrated these traits and capabilities through your successes that you have achieved despite the obstacles that were placed in your way. Most notably
- you defeated the 65% solution
- you preserved the VRS pension
- and you fended off tuition tax credits and vouchers…..AGAIN!
I congratulate you. Please join me in giving yourselves a round of applause.
This is why engagement is so important – why your voice is so important. This is why we must remain organized here in Virginia. We must remain ready to act.
In my travels at the state and local levels, I am frequently asked, “What is the NEA doing for me?”
I can tell you that we are far better off collectively than separately.
The time: the 70′s
The place: the United States of America
The event: the unification of the local, state, and national levels of THE Association
The goal: to unite all association levels for the purpose of providing a consistent standard of services and benefits across all geographic regions
The result: Unified Services or the UniServ program.
In addition to the UniServ program, the joining of the three levels – local, state, and national – strengthened the legal services provided to members and fortified the federal lobbying efforts on behalf of public education and our members.
Given the current state of our economy and the impact that it is having on school employment, our Legal Services Department is being called on more and more to assist with aiding our members during these tough times and challenging the laws that our opponents are using in an attempt to destroy us.
On the federal front, ESEA aka the Elementary and Secondary Education Act aka No Child Left Behind is up for reauthorization. While it is long overdue, our latest projections indicate that the Senate Education Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) would like to move a bill through the Senate by this summer. For up-to-date information and opportunities for advocacy, visit www.educationvotes.nea.org.
Let us also not forget that born out of the merger between the NEA and the American Teachers Association (ATA) in the 1960s, was our activism for social justice. When we came together as one organization, school districts in 17 states used court-ordered desegregation as an excuse to dismiss hundreds of black teachers. So one of the expectations surrounding our merger was that the new NEA would work to protect the professional, civil, and human rights of ALL educators. Afterall, employee rights are human rights.
Recognizing the current anti-public education environment that we are currently in, the NEA is already tightening its belt so that we can work smarter and advocate more efficiently. We understand that we can no longer be the National Everything Association. This moment in our history gives us the opportunity to think about our business model and how we respond to assaults on public education.
In the coming year, while we will continue to provide the core services on which we base our day-to-day work, our strategic focus will be narrowed to two goals: 1) Strong Affiliates for Great Public Schools – we partner with our state and local affiliates to ensure that they have the resources to effectively advocate for students, public education and our members and 2) Priority Schools – our organizational work that will focus on a structured way to help our members and students in schools that are struggling.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the We Are One events that have been occurring all across the nation this week – events that many of our members have been a part of – there have been teach-ins, vigils, faith services, and town hall meetings. On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated as he stood with sanitation workers in Memphis, TN as they demanded their dream: The right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life. The workers were trying to form a union with AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. This week, union members, people of faith, and civil and human rights activists, students and other progressive allies are joining with working people all over the country to rally for the rights Dr. King gave his life for: the freedom to bargain, to vote, to afford a college education and justice for all workers, immigrant and native-born. The theme for these events: “We Are One.” We are one family. We truly are one people working together to achieve a common goal. Tomorrow, I will be wearing red with you to show my solidarity.
Given all that we have been through in the past several months, I truly believe that when the dust settles, we will have a new kind of an association, a new kind of union in which we will be more organized, more engaged and more vocal about whom we are and why public education – why America - is better with us than without us.
So, my friends, where do we go from here?
I know that past Association successes have been the result of grassroots efforts at the state and local level. This means YOU.
I know that now more than ever it is critical that the local, state, and national associations come together in partnership to present a united front. This means US.
I know that now is the time to strengthen our voice, make strategic use of our stories of reality, and provide true commitment to preserving public education and our rights for our students, our union, and our country. This means EVERYONE.
As we move forward and address the current and future critical issues, I know that by working together – local, state, and national associations- we can ensure that our voices are listened to by the public and acted upon by the policymakers. I know that we can and will get through these rough times and make positive things happen for our students, public education, and our members who serve them both.
Thank you and let’s make this one of our best conventions ever!
Yesterday, EI members approved a comprehensive education policy that sets out the collective views of its 30 million global membership on a wide range of education -related areas. 
