United Teachers of New Orleans - Post-Katrina Collective Bargaining

Post-Katrina Collective Bargaining

As New Orleans and other nearby cities struggled to recover from Hurricane Katrina, UTNO sought to reinsert itself into policy- and decision-making in the OPSB, RSD, Algiers Charter School Association and other independent charter schools. With RSD facing a shortage of 500 teachers in the 2007-2008 school year, UTNO pledged to help recruit teachers. UTNO tied its cooperation, however, to increased job security for teachers. In April 2007, UTNO attempted to re-establish a collective bargaining relationship with the Orleans Parish School Board. Although the union represented 170 of the parish's approximately 245 teachers and other employeers, the school board declined to open negotiations, citing the continuing lawsuits against the school board.

The union also undertook a number of initiatives in 2007 to rebuild its influence. When a charter school board suspended its director, principal and four others after parents and teachers accused them of inflicting unduly harsh corporal punishment on students and summarily firing teachers, UTNO argued that the incident was a prime example of why a collective bargaining agreement with due process and grievance provisions was necessarily. The union also began staging small, regular demonstrations throughout the city to protest the lack of a contract and publicize problems in the various public and private schools. The union also began pushing for re-unification of the various schools and districts under one management structure, which the union claimed would help stabilize the district and provide more uniform administrative and teaching policies. It would also help rebuild union membership more quickly if collective bargaining resumed.

The union's actions appeared to pay off. OPSB Superintendent Paul Vallas made public appearances with UTNO President Brenda Mitchell, and asked for the union to partner with the district in improving education. Mitchell offered a conciliatory response, saying that UTNO stood "ready to work with the new superintendent to turn this district around." In October 2007, the union and OPSB settled lawsuits the union filed the previous year. The school board agreed to pay $1,000 each of its 6,800 employees fired after Hurricane Katrina and to contribute $200,000 to the union to administer the payouts. In exchange, the union ended five lawsuits against the OPSB, and dropped three arbitrations involving the school district. The OPSB also agreed to negotiate a new contract with UTNO as part of the settlement. The union dropped the School Board as a defendant in a sixth suit, while continuing its case against the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Louisiana Department of Education. The union's membership rose dramatically as the AFT devoted large amounts of organizing and other assistance to the local union. There is some disagreement about just how many members the union had, however. Union president Mitchell said the local had 900 members during the 2006-2007 school year. But a union spokesperson said the union had more than 1,000 members in June 2007. It is unclear how many of these members are teachers, however. About 1,000 teachers were employed by OPSB in August 2007.

UTNO continued to criticize the performance of the charter schools in New Orleans. In October 2007, the union issued a report, "Reading, Writing and Reality Check," which claimed that LEAP test scores (the state's yearly assessment of progress) in charter schools were no higher than in public schools. Rather, UTNO said, LEAP scores were highest in schools that had more veteran teachers. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools challenged the reports conclusions, although the group also agreed that the RSD had far more organizational and financial problems than the charter schools (which could account for the RSD's poorer performance).

In January 2008, negotiations finally opened with the OPSB on a new collective bargaining contract. The OPSB unanimously elected Torin Sanders, a union supporter, president of the board. Sanders replaced Phyllis Landrieu, a former OPSB president and strong supporter of charter schools.

In February 2008, the union claimed supermajorities among eligible staff in both OPSB and RSD-run schools.