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More than 21,000 paraprofessionals and school-related personnel represented by the Oregon School Employees Association have affiliated with the AFT, marking the largest affiliation of an independent union in AFT history.
The margin of victory for mail-in ballots counted Feb. 4-5 by the League of Women Voters was 85 percent for affiliation, clearly demonstrating that the school employees represented by OSEA overwhelmingly supported a recommendation by OSEA's leaders and seven-member study committee to support affiliation.
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| OSEA president Merlene Martin, center, surrounded by staff from OSEA and AFT, gets word on the final vote count from the League of Women Voters. |
"Our organizations share the same values and priorities," says AFT president Ed McElroy. "This affiliation will make OSEA and AFT better and stronger."
The vote caps a decade-long process in which the AFT made a deep commitment to OSEA members in Oregon. "It formalizes what has always been a close relationship between our unions and allows us to take our partnership to a new level," says OSEA president Merlene Martin. "The additional resources and support provided by the AFT to its affiliates will make OSEA even stronger and will secure a bright future for our union." (McElroy and Martin issued a joint statement on the election.)
AFT PSRP chair Lorretta Johnson has traveled to Oregon many times from the East Coast, where she heads the Baltimore Teachers Union paraprofessional chapter. Johnson is overjoyed at the strong vote in favor of affiliation. "I'm so elated," says the AFT vice president. "It's been a long while but it's worth every minute of the wait. The members were ready, and that's an impressive vote."
Over the years, OSEA and AFT worked together on numerous joint activities and projects that would not have been possible in a short-term affiliation campaign, says Tom Moran, deputy director for the AFT PSRP division. The division in recent years has helped support OSEA locals during contract negotiations, conducted joint health and safety training, and even helped launch a statewide campaign that secured better health insurance for school employees. "Through this formal affiliation," he says, "we will do even more and better things together."
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| From left, Elizabeth Britt, Laurie DeKlyen and Connie Vander Waal urged members of Neah-Kah-Nie Chapter 93 of OSEA to vote for AFT affiliation. |
The AFT campaign received substantial AFL-CIO help, too, Moran says, with the labor community in Oregon showing tremendous support.
To gauge OSEA members' opinions on the affiliation, the AFT commissioned a survey that showed an 87 percent approval rating for OSEA's leaders—the same leaders who were recommending affiliation with the AFT.
That's an excellent sign that the AFT/OSEA partnership will add strength to strength, says AFT organizing director Phil Kugler. "This is very, very big," he adds. "This is not an organization at death's door, running to affiliation. This is a strong outfit."
One question OSEA members had about AFT affiliation was whether they would be able to maintain their independence. Watching and listening convinced them they would. Barbara Ritoch, a speech assistant in Hood River, Ore., has been an OSEA member for 27 years and attended an AFT convention to consider that question. "We were watching to see if everybody counts, if there is autonomy, and there was," she says. "I'm excited. I just think it'll bring a lot of neat things for our members."
A deciding factor for many OSEA members was the powerful assist that the AFT can provide across a range of issues. Some examples:
More political influence. In the past few years, AFT-Oregon has developed a strong presence at the state capital and has worked closely with OSEA on common issues, including pooled healthcare insurance that the state legislature has approved for education workers statewide. "We've already started joint political action events," including a Jan. 5 endorsement dinner with Oregon legislators, says AFT-Oregon president Mark Schwebke. "I can't wait to do more. And I'm sure OSEA can't wait, either." The affiliation also will give OSEA a stronger voice during this year's presidential election. "The AFT has clout," says Martin. "They have clout at the national level."
Increased strength at the bargaining table. Staff in the AFT's research department helped avert a strike in Oregon's North Clackamas school district by discovering, within 48 hours, $9 million in employees' healthcare insurance that the school board had hidden in an unsecured trust. The district's negotiators—who declared during the last bargaining session before mediation that there was "nothing to talk about" regarding the OSEA contract—quickly came to settlement when faced with the AFT's findings. Now a joint employer-employee commission administers the insurance fund.
Expanded training and professional development. OSEA has tapped into the AFT's many programs for professionals to develop their skills, including the Educational Research and Dissemination program and many types of health and safety training. Recently the two unions co-sponsored training in how to respond to chemical hazards in the workplace.
Access to LeaderNet and other technologies. OSEA chapter leaders now will be able to learn about breaking news in education and labor across the nation, as well as tap the AFT's extensive database of web-based tools for collective bargaining and professional development.
AFT leaders, meanwhile, are eager to develop a working relationship with the new affiliate. Noting that OSEA members run the full gamut of school employees, from office managers and paraprofessionals to food service and maintenance workers, AFT vice president Kathy Chavez of New Mexico says, "They are us."
"They're going to be contributors," Kugler adds. "We've got things to learn from them."
[photos courtesy of OSEA]
February 5, 2008
