UTLA- NOT REALLY A UNION - Perdaily.com:
UTLA- NOT REALLY A UNION
(Mensaje se repite en Español)
In the attempt to unionize the charter school teachers of Alliance College Ready Public School by the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), it is hard- if not impossible- to know which side represents the lesser of two evils for teachers caught between them, since it is clear to me that with or without a union public school teachers have become employees at will whether or not they have tenure or union representation.
While I have always been a supporter of unions, because I know from history just how bad any worker- white collar or blue collar- is treated when they do not have the power that collective bargaining and the ultimate threat of a strike gives them, the present reality for teachers and others represented by unions like UTLA is that once targeted by their employer- be it LAUSD or Alliance College Ready Public School, if UTLA succeeds in getting their teachers to join UTLA- UTLA has and will do nothing to stop any teacher's removal, even if it is clear that there is absolutely no legal or reasonable justification for such action.
Simply stated, Alliance College Ready teachers without a union are presently employees at will, subject to being legally fired without cause. What these teachers don't understand is that even if they vote to join UTLA, they will remain de facto employees at will subject to firing at will, since UTLA has stood by for the last 6 years while its own dues paying members- 87% of whom are over 40 and at the top of the salary scale- have been removed by LAUSD from UTLA- NOT REALLY A UNION - Perdaily.com:
