Union Power – LA School Report https://www.laschoolreport.com What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) Mon, 05 May 2014 22:58:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://www.laschoolreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-T74-LASR-Social-Avatar-02-32x32.png Union Power – LA School Report https://www.laschoolreport.com 32 32 UTLA election winners still awaiting review of challenges https://www.laschoolreport.com/utla-election-winners-await-challenger-review/ https://www.laschoolreport.com/utla-election-winners-await-challenger-review/#respond Mon, 05 May 2014 16:14:24 +0000 http://laschoolreport.com/?p=23049 imagesThe UTLA election winners are still waiting for the fat lady to sing.

Since Alex Caputo-Pearl was declared the winner as president and two other races were clarified though the second round of voting last week, the union’s election committee is now in the midst of hearing 15 challenges from competition for 22 positions.

Hearings were held last Tuesday and Thursday with more scheduled for today.

“A majority of them” involve challenges to winning Union Power candidates — nearly all the winners — over the possibility they used unpaid leave to campaign, said a person familiar with the cases who asked not to be identified. The other challenges, the person said, fall into the category of, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Caputo-Pearl was not challenged, but the winners for four vice president positions, secretary and treasurer were.

The challenge process allows any losing candidate to present evidence of irregularity, after which the 13-member committee decides to accept or reject the challenge. The loser of the decision has the right to post $1,000 to appeal to an independent arbitrator, initiating a process could could stretch on for several months.

The person with knowledge of the process said that to prevail, any challenger has to demonstrate that the alleged violation is valid and would change the outcome of the voting.

It’s not always so simple as it sounds. The person described a challenge from several years ago when a losing candidate charged that the winner had used a school site copying machine to make campaign fliers.

“That’s not against UTLA rules but it goes against district and state rules,” the person said before describing other  cases — a candidate accused of using the school site telephone to make campaign calls, a candidate accused of using the LA Unified email address to send out literature, a candidate calling in sick to campaign.

“How do we prove or disprove any of that?” the person said. “We’re not the NSA, tapping everybody’s phone.”

The election committee’s rulings are expected to be completed this week. Any race in which no appeal is filed with be declared official.

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‘Union Power’ wins big but most UTLA members didn’t vote* https://www.laschoolreport.com/union-power-wins-big-utla/ https://www.laschoolreport.com/union-power-wins-big-utla/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:39:37 +0000 http://laschoolreport.com/?p=21453 UITLA's election drew only 23 percent of the membership

UITLA’s election drew only 23 percent of the membership

UTLA is headed in a new direction —  mostly veering to the left.

Despite a low turnout, Union Power candidates claimed victory today, with wins in nearly every leadership position within UTLA, the nation’s second-largest teachers union.

The progressive group — which plans to call for a strike if a new teacher contract can’t be negotiated soon — won outright in races for NEA Affiliate vice president, AFT Affiliate vice president, Elementary VP, Secondary VP, Treasurer, and Secretary. The race for President will be decided in a run-off pitting Union Power leader, Alex Caputo-Pearl, against incumbent Warren Fletcher.

“This shows that our members want UTLA to pro-actively and assertively fight against the attacks on the profession, while fighting for a clear vision of quality schools that we build through aggressive organizing with members, parents, and community,” Caputo-Pearl said in a statement.

Although he fell short of getting 51 percent of votes in the first round, Caputo-Pearl says he’s confident he’ll come out on top in the end.

“The organizing that led to these successes today,” he said, “will propel us to victory in the fight for a pay increase, for class size reduction and increases in staffing, against teacher jail, and around all of the other issues that are critical in public education today.”

Fletcher received fewer than half the votes Caputo-Pearl captured. He responded to the news in a statement, saying, “The results of the first round of the UTLA election were fairly unambiguous. The voting membership has decisively signaled the desire for a change in direction. To assert otherwise would be to deny an obvious reality.”

“I am confident that UTLA, whether under Mr. Caputo-Pearl’s leadership or mine, will move forward into the next three years with the common goal of fighting for what is best for students, for schools, and for the classroom,” he added.

John Lee, Senior Executive Director of Teach Plus in Los Angeles, told LA School Report that Union Power “was clearly the best organized among the different groups,” evidenced by their ability to get the endorsement of more than 250 UTLA chapter chairs. But Lee says the group’s sweep is far from a mandate on anything, given the total number of ballots cast. Only about 23 percent of UTLA’s 31,552 members participated in the election. And even Arlene Inouye, the incumbent treasurer who had the most votes (4,231) in her race, received only 13.5 percent of the total votes cast.

“When you’re talking about only only a quarter of members voting, that tells us that the majority of UTLA members aren’t engaged,” Lee said. “That means you have this vocal minority who are setting the direction for the union.”

Several Teach Plus fellows launched a petition initiative to increase UTLA member participation by allowing online voting but the endeavor is on hold until after the elections.

Gregg Solkovits came in third in the run for president, ending his bid for the position once held by his mother.

“Whoever is the next UTLA president is going to have to face the dilemma that unless you get UTLA well organized and ready to fight, then UTLA becomes increasingly powerless,” he told LA School Report.

Throughout his campaign Solkovits, like Caputo-Pearl, said the union has failed exert any strength over Superintendent John Deasy or the school board in negotiating a new teacher contract. The last contract expired two-years ago, leaving teachers and the district to operate under a temporary contract.

“My plan also was that we make sure that every school has a chapter chair then the union would have the ability to threaten a strike, Solkovits said. “A union that can’t threaten a strike is basically at the mercy of management.”

And that’s not a Union Power idea, he said, “that’s basically Union 101.”

*Clarifies Teach Plus involvement in election process.

Previous Posts: Misunderstood election rules cause friction among UTLA candidatesTensions rise among UTLA candidates, take on issues and each otherAt a UTLA candidate forum, issues break out within the mudslinging.

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Fletcher Facing 8 in Bid for LA Teacher Union Presidency https://www.laschoolreport.com/fletcher-facing-8-in-bid-for-la-teacher-union-presidency/ https://www.laschoolreport.com/fletcher-facing-8-in-bid-for-la-teacher-union-presidency/#respond Fri, 06 Dec 2013 19:25:53 +0000 http://laschoolreport.com/?p=17496 UTLA President Warren Fletcher

UTLA President Warren Fletcher

If Warren Fletcher is reelected president of the LA Unified teachers union, UTLA, it won’t be easy.

At yesterday’s filing deadline, the union announced that eight others – all men — are challenging him for a three-year term that begins next year.

The size of the field, which includes one current UTLA officer, Secondary Vice President Greg Solkovits, and one who also ran for president in 2011, Leonard Segal, suggests an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with Fletcher’s policies, leadership style or both.

The other candidates are David R. Garcia, Alex Caputo-Pearl, Kevin Mottus, Saul LanksterMarcos Ortega and Bill Gaffney. Fletcher defeated seven other candidates and prevailed in a runoff when he won in 2011, succeeding A.J. Duffy.

“The upcoming UTLA election is about the fundamental direction of the union,” said Mike Stryer, a former union chapter chairman and now a Teach Plus vice president. “Teachers are essentially being asked whether the union should be driven primarily by bread and butter issues, broader social justice issues, or professionalization of teaching.”

The elections of president, six other executive officer positions and the UTLA Board of Directors will be conducted during the first quarter of 2014. All candidates run as individuals, and any who surpasses 50 percent of the vote is the winner. Short of that, the top two finishers contend in a runoff.

With an expected turnout of no more than a quarter of the union membership, it’s difficult to handicap the race for president. But Caputo-Pearl and Solkovits are regarded by many as the strongest among the Fletcher challengers.

Caputo-Pearl is running at the top of a slate – “Union Power” – that includes three current officers, an indication of current fractured leadership. Caputo-Pearl advocates for a broader approach of unionism than Fletcher, with a focus on socio-economic, race, equality and class issues. Fletcher has spent much of his time pushing for such basics as higher salaries and lower class size.

Solkovits, a UTLA officer for six years, says the union needs to be more open to ideas from membership. “There are a lot of younger teachers, people with divergent points of view,” he told LA School Report. “We need to listen to them.”

He also says the union has become too divisive for its own good.

Only the position Solkovits is vacating is an open seat, and all executive positions are being contested. NEA Vice President Mary Jan Roberts has two challengers; AFT Vice President Betty Forrester, three; Elementary Vice Juan Ramirez, four; Treasurer Arlene Inouye, five; and Secretary David Lyell, one.

Forrester, Ramirez and Inouye are running on the Caputo-Pearl slate.

The list of all candidates is here.

Previous Posts:  UTLA President Warren Fletcher, saying John Deasy isn’t a saviorTeachers Union Presidents says a Strike could help win pay raisesCaputo-Pearl Kicks Off Money Drive for Union Presidency

 

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