The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,930 
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Nov 14, 2023 12:47:19 GMT
I am curious if anyone else on the board has gone to “work to rule” when negotiations broke down. (Right now walking in and out together, no subbing on our prep, no non-contractual meetings/volunteering/etc…)
We started yesterday. This is the first time in my 28 years. We did come close last negotiations. Before that, we didn’t always get what we wanted or needed, but we had a generally pro-teacher board and fairly strong admin, and we were always able to come to something amicably.
It’s pretty bad right now. We have three/four people who are disrupters, and I honestly don’t think they believe in public education.
I’m wondering if you did, how did it go? Any tips? Did you end up striking?
Just looking for some anecdotes and some support.
ETA:
—these are not times of austerity in our state/district.
—support staff union is having similar issues and we are supporting them as well
—our insurance rates for next year went up 55%
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CeeScraps
Pearl Clutcher
~~occupied entertaining my brain~~
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Post by CeeScraps on Nov 14, 2023 13:33:10 GMT
Yes we did that a couple of times. What you're doing is showing unity. That's a good thing. We were able to get all of the district employees within one union. So it was not only the teachers, but paraprofessionals, secretaries, custodians and bus drivers. It was a powerful show of unity when we did it.
We did strike twice within my 38 years of teaching. The first time was in the 80's. The parental support was amazing. It helped our cause a lot. The second time was in the mid 2000's. Once the parents were educated we had a lot of support. What happened the second time is that we had a HORRIBLE superintendent who believed and made others believe he was the end all be all of the planet. Our school board did not realize they were above him. You read that correctly. The school board felt they needed to do whatever he said. Once they were educated the strike ended.
So, show your unity in whatever way the union asks. We did it with shirt colors and walking in/out together. We also had cryptic buttons we would wear.
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Post by freecharlie on Nov 14, 2023 13:58:01 GMT
Awesome job so far!
I know it is hard to work to rule and do contract only, but it is worth it in the end. You are fighting for your teachers and your students.
If you live stream your negotiations and need to up the number watching, let me know...I'll log in and support you.
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teddyw
Drama Llama
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Post by teddyw on Nov 14, 2023 14:02:45 GMT
Can you clarify that you are or are not allowed to walk into work with another coworker?
That seems ridiculous to me since typically there’s not that many entrances and you typically start around the same time.
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Post by Merge on Nov 14, 2023 14:32:07 GMT
Texas teachers are not allowed to strike by law, but if ever a time called for it, it is now. I wish you all the best.
We also can’t “work to rule” in my district because that can be considered an act of subordination.
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,427
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Nov 14, 2023 14:32:21 GMT
We have a “no strike” clause in our contract- we’ve been trying forever to get it out. No idea who allowed that little crap in.
We have worked the rule several times. I don’t think it really did anything positive or negative for negotiations but it did show solidarity. You need EVERYONE on board for it to work too.
We’ve also done “grade-ins” where teachers got together at a public location and brought their massive amounts of grading and worked silently. This allowed community members to see just how much extra work teachers take home or stay after to do. Again you need 100% to show up to make a statement.
Good luck! We start our next negotiations in January.
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,427
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Nov 14, 2023 14:33:55 GMT
Can you clarify that you are or are not allowed to walk into work with another coworker? That seems ridiculous to me since typically there’s not that many entrances and you typically start around the same time. I think they’re saying that normally teachers trickle in as they get there over the course of an hour or whatever before school starts. Instead of that, they all wait for “start” time and walk in en masse. Part of work to the rule. Don’t work a minute more than you have to per contract. |
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Post by librarylady on Nov 14, 2023 14:35:05 GMT
Will you explain very clearly what you mean and what is happening?
Teachers in Texas have no union (illegal here).
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Post by Merge on Nov 14, 2023 14:36:50 GMT
Will you explain very clearly what you mean and what is happening? Teachers in Texas have no union (illegal here). We have unions. They’re just non-bargaining and we can’t strike or engage in any collective action like a sick-out. |
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Post by librarylady on Nov 14, 2023 15:04:31 GMT
Will you explain very clearly what you mean and what is happening? Teachers in Texas have no union (illegal here). We have unions. They’re just non-bargaining and we can’t strike or engage in any collective action like a sick-out. How are they different from professional organizations? |
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Post by Merge on Nov 14, 2023 15:41:52 GMT
We have unions. They’re just non-bargaining and we can’t strike or engage in any collective action like a sick-out. How are they different from professional organizations? Depends on the professional org. Our unions offer legal advice and representation to members, and they do advocate for us with the board and administration. They also bring lawsuits against the district as necessary. And lobby with the lege. |
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The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,930
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Nov 14, 2023 17:58:05 GMT
Will you explain very clearly what you mean and what is happening? Teachers in Texas have no union (illegal here). We renegotiate our contract, collectively, every two years (usually, but we did do a four year stint once). We negotiate pay, prep time, extra curricular contracts, paid leave, how much the district covers our insurance, etc.. Our union also steps in legally if we feel we are are reprimanded unfairly, have unfair contracts (this happened to me once when I was a part-time teacher), are terminated or any other issue we have with admin/parents/etc... We have legal council through the statewide union as well. Work to rule, like others have said, is working to the exact rule of the contract. We all walk in at the exact same time (meeting outside the doors and walk in together right before our contract time starts, and we all walk out together (a few have to go back in to honor coaching contracts or other contracts. No paid meetings outside out contract hours, no grading, no planning (although I am sure that will happen so we can actually teach during the day). What else do you want to know? I am at lunch, so I won't reply until after school since we are in work to rule, but I will answer any questions you have. |
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Post by Bobomommy on Nov 14, 2023 21:23:11 GMT
How I wish we had unions in Georgia! Our contracted start time is 7:00. Admin has said we are expected in at 6:50 so we have time to prepare for students. School starts at 7:40. They could hold early arrivals in the cafeteria, but they send them to classrooms at 7:05.
Just the “expectation” that we be there before contract time rubbed me the wrong way. This is a new principal and two of the three APs are also new. I’ve stopped arriving early. I sit in my car until 6:58 and fob in at exactly 7:00.
I’m job hunting right now. I probably won’t be in the school after Christmas.
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Post by fuji on Nov 15, 2023 1:37:50 GMT
We talked about doing it a few years ago, but the union decided against. One of the hardest parts is getting everyone to agree to it. There are always some who can't make it work, which undermines the whole thing. Sorry to hear you're at that point, although as a fellow English teacher, I wouldn't mind it. The thought of not correcting papers every night/weekend is appealing. I'm also in MN and didn't realize there were that many asshole school boards around. That makes it such a struggle.
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ellen
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by ellen on Nov 15, 2023 2:09:04 GMT
We had terrible negotiations and in the second year of no contract it was discussed within our union. There were several people who could not get on board with it. They felt they couldn’t function at their jobs if they did. A few of us decided that we would just quietly do it for ourselves for the remainder of the school year. I was someone that usually got to work much earlier than contracted time and it made me nervous to walk right in at 8. By that time of year a lot of the big rocks had been moved, so I really wasn’t putting anyone out by doing this. The hardest part for me was taking my entire lunch period for myself when I knew I had so much work to do. I busted my ass to get my work done during the day and changed things that I was doing in class so that I could get things done. It was a good lesson for me and taught me to be far more efficient.
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Post by freecharlie on Nov 15, 2023 4:35:35 GMT
The Great Carpezio did you guys vote on it or is this just an escalation tactic? If you can think how I can support you from a distance, let me know.
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