Who is selected to replace retiring NEA Executive Director Don Cameron will say a lot about the future direction of the organization. The word is that NEA has narrowed its search to three finalists: California Teachers Association Executive Director Carolyn Doggett, North Carolina Association of Educators Executive Director John Wilson, and retired Rear Admiral John F. Sigler. It is the bizarre appearance of that last name that ignited a frenzied attempt at confirmation.

Admiral Sigler has no union experience. He entered the US Naval Academy immediately after high school and rose through the ranks, retiring last year after a stint as the director of plans and policy for the U.S. Navy Central Command. He is probably best known for being the commander of the USS Belknap when that ship was used as the headquarters for President Bush’s Malta summit with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989. Asked to confirm or deny the identities of the three finalists, NEA Communications responded with: "It is our policy not to comment on personnel decisions until the hiring process has been concluded. We are scheduled to make an announcement on or about the 22^nd of September." Attempts to reach Admiral Sigler directly were unsuccessful.

The other, more conventional candidates each have strengths to recommend them. Carolyn Doggett has presided over a growth in CTA of more than 40,000 members. She was also president of NEA Alaska and the Anchorage Education Association. Her one weakness may be less experience with NEA’s Washington DC headquarters than her rival, John Wilson. Wilson was president of NCAE and a member of the NEA Executive Committee before becoming NCAE executive director. Both he and Doggett have the same amount of experience at their state jobs.

+ Missouri NEA Locks Out Staff, Calls in Police. Last Friday morning, Missouri NEA locked out its staff in the wake of a unanimous strike authorization vote. The timing of this internal showdown is baffling: Missouri is one of the key battleground states in the presidential campaign, plus MNEA is hoping to elect friendly state legislators in order to push through a public school collective bargaining bill next year.

MNEA seemed to have the situation in hand when it held a three-day interest-based bargaining (IBB) session in April with the Missouri Professional Staff Organization, the staff union of MNEA’s UniServ directors and other mid-level employees. IBB is supposed to be a way to avoid the usual labor-management confrontations over contract provisions. By all accounts the sessions went well, but the staff claims management refused to meet again until August 9 -- a mere three weeks before the current contract would expire. At that session, neither side would budge on what has become the key issue: flex time. If a professional staffer works more than 88 hours in a two-week period, he or she is entitled to compensatory time off. MNEA’s management wants flex time eliminated. When an August 23 negotiating session ended with no movement by either side, a federal mediator declared an impasse. Battle lines were drawn soon afterward.

On a unanimous 22-0 vote, staff members authorized a strike to begin September 5 if an agreement could not be reached. MNEA, however, had no intention of waiting that long. On August 30, MNEA’s executives notified staff members to turn in their keys, files, computer codes and health insurance cards by 3 pm on August 31 (the latter action prompted the staff union to file an unfair labor practice complaint).

As the last employees turned in keys on Thursday, MNEA replaced all the locks. It is assumed that the codes and passwords for the union’s computer network and voice mail access have also been changed. On its web page, MNEA posted a message to members that despite the staff "strike," its offices would remain open. "MNEA managers, confidential employees, executive officers and members of the board of directors are staffing the offices, answering the phones and attending meetings with members," read the message.

The staff showed up for work on Friday morning and, finding themselves locked out, proceeded to set up picket lines at MNEA headquarters in Jefferson City and its seven regional offices throughout the state. In at least two instances, MNEA officials called local police to oversee the picket lines and to ensure access to the buildings. Though both sides tried to keep the press in the dark, two newspapers ran stories on Saturday. "From a union that preaches these kinds of things -- no take-backs -- they are now taking back a 25-year right to schedule flexibility," locked-out staffer Leila Medley told the Jefferson City News Tribune.

Researchers and union members who know how difficult it is to uncover staff benefits will be amazed to learn that MNEA Executive Director Peggy Cochran, representing management, was suddenly very forthcoming about what staffers receive. "Cochran said the current employee benefits package includes up to 25 vacation days, 25 compensation days, five personal days, religious and bereavement leave and up to an $80,000 salary," according to the Jefferson City News Tribune.

"It’s a professional job and they are expected to do the job no matter how many hours it takes," Cochran said, claiming she has put in as much as 80 hours in a single week.

EIA didn’t count the hours put in on the above two stories, but will continue to provide exclusive coverage as news develops. EIA is particularly interested to hear from MNEA managers and elected officers who are manning the phones during the lockout.

+ Ohio Staff Negotiations Continue. Though contracts between the Ohio Education Association and its two staff unions expired on Thursday night, negotiators agreed to temporary extensions while bargaining continued. All OEA staffers reported to work today without incident, though the sides are still said to be far apart, particularly on OEA’s demand for a two-year salary freeze and a host of benefit cuts.

+ Other Imminent Teacher Strikes. The press is understandably focused on today’s strike authorization by the members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, but there was also a strike authorization vote by the city’s Catholic school teachers. Talks between the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the National Association of Catholic School Teachers Local 1776 broke off this morning after more than 14 hours of negotiations. The union represents more than 1,000 lay high school teachers. The archdiocese is offering a three-year contract with raises of 4.1, 3.5 and 3.5 percent, but also wants an increase in teacher contributions to health care. The union charges this would negate the raises. Beginning Catholic school teachers make about $4,000 less than area public school teachers.

Armed with a $5.5 million strike fund, the Buffalo Teachers Federation is planning a series of "rotating strikes," even though public employee strikes are illegal in New York State. Buffalo teachers have been without a contract since June 1999 and have called the district’s offer of a 6.5 percent raise spread over five years unacceptable. For its part, the district appears to be holding firm. Buffalo Board of Education President Paul Buchanan voted not to "cave in to BTF demands."

+ Mandatory Agency Fee Bill on California Governor’s Desk.. Having passed both houses of the legislature on largely party line votes, SB 1960 now sits on California Gov. Gray Davis’ desk, awaiting his signature to become law. The bill would make agency fees a requirement for continued employment in every school district in California. The California School Employees Association sponsored the bill, with the support of the California Federation of Teachers and AFSCME (the California Teachers Association, strangely enough, took no public position on the bill). Last year, a similar bill that applied to employees of the California State University and University of California systems was signed into law by Gov. Davis, but is currently under legal challenge by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

+ Delaware Union Fails to Endorse Carper for Senate. Citing "major weaknesses when it comes to support for public education," the Delaware State Education Association failed to endorse either incumbent Republican William Roth or his Democratic challenger, Gov. Tom Carper for the state’s U.S. Senate seat. DSEA said Roth’s interview was "extremely positive," though the senator openly supports school vouchers. Gov. Carper opposes vouchers, but was faulted for proposing "several punitive accountability measures for students and staff alike."

+ NRA Returns Fire. The National Rifle Association has noted NEA’s stepped-up campaign for gun control and is preparing an aggressive defense. The September 2000 issue of American Rifleman recounts the complaints filed by the Landmark Legal Foundation with the IRS and FEC about the union’s political spending and accuses NEA of "playing fast and loose with laws that govern election campaign spending and reporting." The magazine printed the office address, phone number and e-mail address of NEA President Bob Chase for readers "to express your views on NEA’s efforts to funnel dues paid by teachers into schemes to restrict gun owner’s rights."

+ Canadian School Bans Snacks Except for Raw Fruit and Vegetables. In an attempt to protect children at risk of anaphylactic shock, officials at a Canadian elementary school have banned all snacks except raw fruits and vegetables. Students at Fallingbrook Community Elementary School in Orléans, Ontario, have been told not to bring cheese and crackers, yogurt, candy bars or homemade muffins to school. The Ottawa Citizen revealed that it is increasingly common for schools to ask parents who bake birthday cakes for their children’s classmates to provide a list of ingredients. The newspaper reported that 10 Canadians a year die from severe allergic reactions.

Some parents and doctors feel the school’s reaction is extreme, and may ironically cause it more legal problems than those it seeks to avoid. "To me the school is going to have serious liabilities if my child chokes on a carrot because you’ve forced me to give her raw fruit and vegetables," said parent Theresa Holowach.

+ More from the EIEIO Convention. EIEIO issued its "Friend of Intoxication" Award for 2000 and, by a strange coincidence, the winner was Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. Sen. Kennedy sent his apologies for being unable to attend the ceremony. Apparently he had some difficulty locating his pants.