No Missouri Compromise
Teachers in Springfield, Missouri, voted 574-404 to have a single union represent them at the bargaining table. The result is a victory for NEA, which sees exclusivity as a necessary condition, and a defeat for the independent Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA), which argued for multiple representation. Fifty-five percent of those eligible cast a ballot.
Early next year, Springfield teachers will vote on which of the two organizations they want as that exclusive representative, and we can expect NEA will devote both state and national resources to the campaign. The election will be crucial, since the power of incumbency makes decertifying an exclusive bargaining agent an extraordinarily difficult undertaking.
If NEA is successful in Springfield, it will be the opening salvo in a battle to uproot and dispose of MSTA, one of the largest independent teacher organizations in the country.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:43
Interesting emphasis on NEA national and state in this piece. The election in Springfield was a local effort led by local teachers. And the “power of incumbency” can be erased with a 30% show of interest and a simple majority to decertify. Uprooting and disposing of MSTA is not the issue, though it wouldn’t be a terrible outcome for teachers in Missouri, which ranks 44th in teacher salaries. MSTA may be one of the largest independent teacher organizations in the country, but they are widely known in Missouri as nothing more than a rubber stamp for traditional authoritarian school administrators. While,the rural districts still love MSTA, they’ve effectively marginalized themselves to the point of self-disposal almost everywhere else.