Tactics in tough times

Local unions face challenges in tough times. While NYSUT battles on the state level for full and fair funding, locals are preparing for a variety of issues. Our goals are to maintain services for our students and defend our members' work.

Here are some tips for local leaders to keep in mind in this tough environment:

1. Teamwork works: Every local union needs allies in the schools and in the community. Work with other unions and parent organizations to ensure programs that meet students' needs are a top priority.
2. Keep members informed: Information builds unity and understanding, silence creates a lack of cohesion. Short meetings and information bulletins are key to a united agenda.
3. Tell your story: Each of our locals does a great job of educating the community's children. Make sure your school board members and local elected officials know about it.
4. Be prepared: Get all the financial information you can about the district. Assess it with your LRS. Carefully review management's assumptions and projections.

Views on workers' rights

President Barack Obama, speaking to union members in Pennsylvania in October:

"If a majority of workers want a union, they should get a union; it's that simple. Let's stand up to the business lobby."

Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus on a conference call with executives opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act in October:

"This is the demise of civilization. This is how a civilization disappears. I'm sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."

President Dwight Eisenhower:

"Today in America, unions have a secure place in our industrial life. Only a handful of reactionaries harbor the ugly thought of breaking the unions and depriving working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice."

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott speaking to stock analysts about unionization in October:

"We like driving the car and we're not giving the steering wheel to anybody but us."

United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard in January:

"I think that there's an appeal to fear. It's the kind of mentality that tries to divide the country and keep people afraid of their future. And it's really put together by the already rich and the already very powerful who control the workplaces, who have full control of the economy."

Union members' gains

The wage difference between union and non-union workers varies but is large for every group. Recent research shows the differences within various groups:

White union workers make 13.1 percent more than their non-union counterparts. Blacks earn 20.3 percent more; Latinos, 21.9 percent more; and Asians, 16.7 percent more than their non-union peers.

Men make 18.4 percent and women 10.5 percent more than their non-union counterparts.
As Martin Luther King Jr. noted, "The coalition that can have the greatest impact in the struggle for human dignity in America is that of blacks and the forces of labor, because their fortunes are so closely intertwined."

'Build American'

Congress recently bailed out Chrysler and GM to ensure some of America's manufacturing base stayed intact and millions of jobs were not lost.

The irony is that these corporations have not shown any loyalty to their workforce as they race across the globe looking for cheap labor.

Auto production in Mexico rose 5 percent in 2008 as Ford, GM and Chrysler continue to expand operations there. The average wage in Mexico is $3 an hour, and pension and health care costs are defrayed by government programs.

Unions kept jet afloat

Americans smiled with wonder at the photos of all 155 passengers from US Airways Flight 1549 emerging alive from their perilous Hudson River landing last month.
All the workers involved in the Jan. 15 rescue — pilots, air traffic controllers, flight attendants, ferry crews and first responders — are union members with contracts that ensure workers' rights to appropriate safety training. This showed the quality of their service and the importance of their skills and ongoing professional development.

How do I respond to critics?

Q: At a neighborhood event recently, some people criticized local schools and teacher salaries. As the only educator there, I held my ground but also felt defensive about the discussion. Are there "right" answers in this debate?

A: Here's one approach: The key issue to consider in keeping a community strong and vibrant is the quality of the schools. That is based on a variety of factors, but the teachers and support professionals are vital elements in the equation. For a district to be able to attract and retain top talent, school employees have to be paid decent wages and benefits. Maintaining a stable workforce that knows children and families benefits the entire community.

We are skilled professionals. Considering the educational requirements and time commitments involved in teacher preparation and ongoing professional development, teacher salaries are low to mid-range for similar professions.

Like everyone else at that party, you are a community resident. Your children probably sit side by side with their children. You share their aspirations and dreams and, as a trained educator, you help those kids reach their potential.

At the same time, you're a taxpayer and concerned citizen and, hopefully, an active member of your local union and the parent-teacher organization. These organizations should be participants in shaping school budgets that work for kids, educators and the community.

Urge your neighbors to become more involved in activities that influence school quality. Bring your state legislators into your schools so they understand your unique needs, programs and services. The more people know about our schools, the quality of our efforts and the achievement of our students, the better the debate will be about what makes schools strong and how educators are key to success.

Q: The auto industry "bailout" involved billions of taxpayer dollars. Wasn't this crisis brought on by the high salaries paid unionized American auto workers?

A: Senators from Southern states with non-union Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen and Honda factories — which are highly subsidized by their anti-union state governments — led the charge against helping America's autoworkers.

hese senators demanded wage "restructuring" before they would support any assistance to the industry.

The reality is that our brothers and sisters in the United Auto Workers have already made big contract concessions. By the end of the current agreement in 2010, the total compensation for the average UAW member will be less than the total compensation for the average non-union worker in a "transplant" factory.

The foreign car companies discourage their workforce from organizing by paying wages comparable to a UAW member. In fact, Toyota's wages are above UAW wages.