Teachers are free to make a choice

By SUSAN MCCLINTIC
CMNEA President

Columbia Tribune
Sunday, October 9, 2011

Great things are happening in public education as our local school district works toward creating a policy to address the collective-bargaining rights of its teachers. As Columbia Public Schools moves forward, it is important for everyone to have a clear understanding of the exclusive representation process that leads to collective bargaining, as well as how it can benefit teachers and students.

Collective bargaining is a collaborative process of negotiations used by both employers and employees to arrive at a binding agreement concerning working and learning conditions, benefits, safety and health. You’ve probably heard collective bargaining pits administrators against teachers; this is not true. In districts across the nation, collective bargaining has provided teachers and employers with the opportunity to improve the working conditions for teachers and the learning conditions for students. (An article on teacher unions published in Princeton University’s “Excellence in the Classroom” journal cited three studies that found student-teacher ratios were 7 to 12 percent lower in districts with collective bargaining — a clear benefit to students.)

In 2007, the Missouri Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutional right for public employees to collectively bargain, but it did not create the process for establishing a representative. This responsibility falls on each local school district. The Missouri School Boards Association created two model policies for districts to consider. One version calls for the traditional election of a single representative, while the other allows for the election of multiple representatives.

With the multiple representation option, there will be two or more representatives — probably one from the Columbia Missouri State Teachers Association (CMSTA) and one from the Columbia Missouri National Education Association (CMNEA) — with voting rights based on percentages of their membership.

While this sounds like a sensible option, multiple representation has some faults. If CPS educators were to choose this option, employees who are not members of CMNEA or CMSTA would have no representation, no vote, no voice. That means about one-third of CPS employees would not benefit from this type of collective-bargaining agreement. In addition, reaching a binding contract with two or more groups has no legal precedent. Multiple representation is like sending all Senate candidates to Jefferson City and telling them to conduct business based on the percentage of their groups’ membership. Multiple representation is not a democratic process and is awkward and inefficient.

Our other option is exclusive representation, in which all teachers, regardless of their memberships, would vote to select a bargaining agent to act as our voice in discussions and negotiations. Parkway, Fort Zumwalt, Wentzville, Rockwood, Park Hill, Independence and Francis Howell are some Missouri districts that have successful collective-bargaining agreements with their employees through an exclusive representative. Students and teachers in those districts are seeing the benefits of having a professional, dedicated, representative organization that works collaboratively to solve problems and move the district forward for the betterment of the entire community. That is the relationship the CMNEA has striven to have with CPS and would continue to have if chosen by the teachers as their exclusive bargaining representative.

What if CMNEA is chosen by the teachers as the bargaining agent? Does that mean teachers will be forced to join CMNEA to have representation?

No. For many years, CMSTA was the exclusive representative in CPS and teachers had to be a CMSTA member to serve and vote on their committees or speak to the school board. CMSTA did not work for a binding agreement. The exclusive representation policy currently under consideration is different. This policy allows each educator to vote on a binding contract. The elected exclusive rep has a duty of fair representation, a duty to represent everyone in the bargaining unit for all items in the contract. If CMNEA becomes the exclusive bargaining rep, our organization would represent the interests of every teacher in CPS, not just those who are CMNEA members.

Will teachers have to pay a fair share fee?

Fair share brings more confusion and conversation. Fair share is a negotiated fee charged to the non-union members of a bargaining unit to cover the cost of the bargained agreement. No public school collective-bargaining agreement in Missouri includes fair share. No educational employee in Missouri can be forced to join or drop any group based on whether he or she belongs to the exclusive representative group. CMNEA does not support the use of fair share.

CMNEA supports the democratic right of teachers to choose who can best represent them with a single voice on the issues affecting their classrooms and their students. We believe the agreements the exclusive representative and the school district arrive at will be beneficial for all parties involved. We believe teachers in Columbia Public Schools have the right, the wisdom and the integrity to decide for themselves who that voice should be.

The Supreme Court has clearly ruled on representation. It has never been clearer that CPS educators deserve their civil right to vote for an exclusive representative of their choice.

Susan McClintic is a teacher and past president of CMNEA.