January 24, 2007

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Vindication in Broward

Filed under: Charter School Labor by Leo Casey @ 10:37 pm

Those who have followed the ongoing blog controversy over the labor rights of charter school teachers [the latest chapter of which can be read here] know that anti-union bloggers have made much of the case of the efforts to organize charter school teachers in Broward County, Florida. The Broward County Commissioners reneged on an agreement for “card check” union recognition for the teachers in the seven Pembroke Pines Charter Schools, fighting union recognition even though a clear majority of the teachers had signed cards authorizing the union as their collective bargaining agent. The grounds for this reversal? The utterly contrived and implausible argument that the teachers had been tricked by the union into signing cards which did not reflect their true intentions, a story which the anti-union bloggers told to all who would listen.

Now the results of a secret ballot election are in, and the Broward Teachers Union has been completely vindicated. Teachers voted 80% in favor of the union, 181 in favor to 46 against.

This is only the start of the struggle to win a collective bargaining agreement and to establish the union in the Pembroke Pines Charter Schools. For those opposed to teacher unions, it matters little what teachers themselves want and think: that much was made clear with the bad faith turn around on ‘card check’ recognition. Only the power of teacher solidarity will force the powers that be in the Pembroke Pines Charter Schools and in Broward to learn how to live with teacher voice.

But this should be the end of the blogosphere controversy about how teacher union “thugs” use “card check” recognition to force “compulsory unionism” on “unsuspecting, naive teachers.” Or it would be if evidence mattered.

We are not holding our breath. But see for yourself, at the sites which have given much ink to the Broward organizing efforts in the past, as they spun their tale of teacher union “thugs” misleading Broward teachers. Go to the New York Charter School Association’s blog, Chalkboard, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ Charter Blog, Michael Antonucci’s blog, Intercepts, and the State Policy Network blog, to name just a few of the more prominent cases. If nothing else, the efforts at spin should be entertaining.

3 Comments

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  • Hey Leo,

    You write:

    ‘But this should be the end of the blogosphere controversy about how teacher union “thugs” use “card check” recognition to force “compulsory unionism” on “unsuspecting, naive teachers.” Or it would be if evidence mattered.’

    A few thoughts:
    1. This seems to be a “Proof by Anecdote” argument. I see a fair bit of that in your writing.

    2. I think you are grouping by implication the most extreme anti-union people with those that are simply anti-”card check”. I, for example, am not anti-union, but I do think that secret ballot union votes are, on balance, a better and fairer process than “card check”.

    3. I am not sure what your example proves since the secret ballot approach ultimately lead to the desired outcome. I am not familiar with the particulars of this situation, so I am guessing you can explain.

    Ken

    Comment by curious3 — January 25, 2007 @ 2:36 pm

  • Ken,

    I’m fairly familiar with the argument around card check recognition and the thuggish argument is essentially the argument you get from big business interest about card check.

    Card check works because we live in the real world and unfortunately most employers retaliate against employee’s who are trying to form a union, immediately. It’s why despite the fact that more than 50% of non-managerial workers want a union fewer than 12% of the workforce is unionized. I can’t tell you how many horror stories I’ve heard from workers and organizers who are trying to start a union.

    Comment by Kombiz Lavasany — January 26, 2007 @ 10:19 am

  • Ken:

    If this language is that of the “most extreme” anti-union people, than the New York Charter School Association falls into that category, since these are the regular tropes of its leaders, and just appeared earlier this week on its blog. Maybe the extremists are already inside the gate.

    Leo

    Comment by Leo Casey — January 26, 2007 @ 11:28 am

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