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1) Delegates Approve New Fiscal
Oversight Procedures. The 2,869 credentialed
delegates attending this year’s AFT Convention is down significantly from
the recent past, but it is an unfair comparison because a substantial number
of delegates from DC, Miami and Chicago have not been seated. The union has
had a difficult two years due to severe internal problems in these large
locals, and the officers and delegates of AFT sought to address some of
these problems with new constitutional and bylaw amendments.
Delegates approved a constitutional
amendment that allows AFT three executive officers by unanimous action to
invoke an emergency administratorship “in situations requiring immediate
action for the purpose of securing an affiliate’s assets and vital records
from immediate threat.” The AFT Executive Council must approve the action by
a two-thirds vote within five business days.
Delegates also approved a bylaws
amendment that requires local affiliates to submit annual independent
financial audits. If a local fails to do so, AFT will hire an auditor and
bill the local for the expense. The measure passed with little opposition,
though some delegates, particularly those from smaller locals, decried the
cost of an audit and went as far as describing the amendment as “an unfunded
mandate.”
The need for fiscal oversight was not an
academic lesson. AFT brought in George Springer and Mark Richard,
administrators of the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) and United Teachers of
Dade (UTD), respectively, to deliver reports on those two unions, beset by
financial scandal since the last AFT Convention in 2002.
But those who expected a cautionary tale
of hubris and mishandling of union dues were disappointed. The criminals
were not mentioned by name, nor their crimes detailed, though Mark Richard
did call them “misguided” and “those who had lost their way.” Richard’s
presentation was particularly jarring, since he has been routinely lauded in
the Miami and national media for restoring trust in UTD, trimming the fat
and changing the way of doing business (actions that haven’t been so
apparent at WTU).
Richard complained about the press
coverage of the scandal. “They love to cover the negative, and you have to
scratch for the positive,” he said.
He boasted of membership gains, and the
renewed activism and enthusiasm of UTD building stewards, but in a way that
displayed contempt for the people he is trying to recruit. The UTD local
activists, he said, “chase the non-members down for the scabs that they
are.”
Richard finished with a long, loud rant
against the No Child Left Behind Act, union opponents and President Bush,
concluding with “Let’s kick his ass out of the White House!” for which he
received a standing ovation.
It was a speech that would have made Pat
Tornillo proud.
2) Intrigue in Puerto Rico.
Over the years, EIA has reported on some unusual union stories, but today
brought a real blast from the past concerning Puerto Rico. Back in 1998,
when NEA and AFT were lobbying members to approve a merger of the two
unions, their respective affiliates in Puerto Rico were going toe-to-toe in
an effort to win exclusive bargaining rights for the island’s more than
22,000 teachers and school employees. AFT had the geographical edge, with
its locals in the U.S. Virgin Islands, to aid the Federación de Maestros de
Puerto Rico (FMPR). But NEA spent $300,000, and rounded up Spanish-speaking
UniServ directors from across the country, to help the Asociación de
Maestros de Puerto Rico (AMPR). EIA covered the battle extensively.
In 1999, FMPR won the representation
election by a large margin, though AMPR had been the larger organization. It
looked like a total victory for AFT, as FMPR picked up a large number of
former AMPR members, and AMPR itself soon disaffiliated from NEA, citing
lack of support.
That’s the way the situation stood until
sometime last year. EIA reported on an unusual meeting with AMPR
representatives and NEA officials in Washington, DC, but nothing seemed to
come of it. On the other side, FMPR was undergoing a revolution of its own.
After the union’s medical plan went
bankrupt, FMPR members ousted the local’s officers in a May 2003 election.
An FMPR faction called CODEMI (for Compromiso, Militancia y Democracia) won
the election, and one of its campaign promises was to disaffiliate from AFT.
This week, members of FMPR have been distributing to AFT delegates an open
letter from FMPR President Rafael Feliciano Hernandez. In it, Hernandez
accuses the AFT of “improper intervention in the internal affairs of the
FMPR.”
Hernandez claims AFT is in contact with
the union’s former leaders in an effort to keep FMPR affiliated. He accuses
the national union of visiting members, conducting surveys, and delivering
organizing lectures, all without consulting the elected FMPR officers.
“These reprehensible tactics represent the establishment of a parallel
structure utilizing teachers who are loyal to the AFT and who have refused
to accept the decision of Puerto Rico’s teachers to renovate union
leadership,” he wrote.
“The present leadership of the FMPR have
obtained important objectives despite the lack of support from the AFT and
the millions of dollars that are drained from our union funds by the AFT,”
Hernandez wrote, adding, “Far from being of any help, the AFT is an obstacle
to our development.”
Why does faraway Puerto Rico matter?
Well, for one thing, FMPR is larger than a dozen of NEA’s state affiliates,
and would be in the top ten in size of AFT’s state federations. That’s a lot
of members and a lot of dues.
3) Revised Anti-WalMart Resolution
Passed. Delegates took action today on about
one-third of the resolutions up for debate. They were not tackled in
numerical order, but here are a few of the delegates’ actions:
* Approved Resolution 50 to “Shop Union,
Not WalMart,” which was amended to amalgamate two other anti-WalMart
resolutions. The new version supports unionization for WalMart workers,
urges members not to patronize the stores, and urges members and pension
boards not to buy WalMart stock.
* Approved Resolution 67 on childhood
obesity, which calls on AFT to lobby for state legislation that establishes
extremely detailed standards for food served in schools, such as “not more
that 35 percent of total calories derived from fat (excepting nuts and
seeds)” and “electrolyte replacement beverages that contain not more than 42
grams of added sweeteners per 20-ounce serving.” Kids across America will be
declaring, “They can have my Gatorade when they pry it from my cold, dead
fingers.”
* Approved Resolution 92 calling for
support of a global minimum wage.
* The dues increase was lowered in
committee. The 2004-05 AFT national dues will be $12.75 per month ($153),
and the 2005-06 dues will be $13.20 per month ($158.40).
4) Kerry to Appear Tomorrow
Afternoon… But Which One? U.S. Senator John Kerry
is scheduled to appear at the AFT convention at approximately 3 p.m.
tomorrow, and we’re guessing he’ll make it this time. But which Kerry will
speak? Will it be the Kerry who promised NEA billions in new education
spending in his satellite talk last week, or will it be the John Kerry who
proposed a slate of New Democrat-type education reforms in this morning’s
USA Today?
For those who didn’t see it, Kerry’s
editorial was set in the political center of the education policy debate.
“My plan will help put a great teacher in every classroom – by offering
teachers more training, support and pay, especially when they go into
struggling schools or excel in the classroom,” he wrote. “We’ll also
establish better tests for new teachers and ensure fast, fair ways to make
sure those who don’t belong in the classroom don’t stay there.”
Kerry’s “more money, more
accountability” approach is not mutually exclusive, but he exclusively talks
about the former when addressing the left, and exclusively about the latter
when addressing the center. He is scrupulously avoiding the “Sister Souljah
moment” that the USA Today editorial board called for in today’s
issue.
“I’ve always said reform without
resources is a waste of time,” Kerry wrote, “but resources without reform
are a waste of money.” He claims he’ll give us both. But when resistance
stiffens, which will go over the side?
5) Quote of the Day #1.
“The independence of our locals is not unqualified.” – George Springer,
administrator of the Washington Teachers Union, quoting from the AFT
Executive Council report that established the administratorship.
Quote of the Day #2.
“Each local and state affiliate is a creature of AFT – legally.” – AFT
Secretary-Treasurer Edward McElroy.
And a fond
remembrance of a past Quote of the Day: On July 16, 2002, the Quote of the
Day belonged to then-United Teachers of Dade President Pat Tornillo, who
said, “We need to get into the big leagues of politics.” Pat was expressing
his support for the creation of the AFT Solidarity Fund, notifying the
delegates, as I wrote then, “that he would be the first one on the phone to
apply for money from the fund.” If only we had known then about the high
cost of python print pajamas. |
