| CTA President, Mike Cahill | CTA 1st Vice President, Diana Moore | CTA 2nd Vice President, Elton Wright | CTA Treasurer, Sam Davis | CTA Secretary, Patricia DeNoon |
CTA 1st Vice President, Diana Moore
End of this Report
End of the January Leadership Report for 1st Vice President Diana Moore
Diana Moore, CTA 1st Vice President's Report from the AFL-CIO Activist Training
While
attending the AFL-CIO Activist Training several members attended the
Florida Labor Fair break-out seminar given by Labor Attorney, Richard
Siwica. He was one of the lawyers who helped CTA with the recent
impasse.
Siwica opened with a brief introduction to labor law history dating back
to the 1935 National Wagner Act signed into law by FDR which recognized
unions in the private sector. The state of Florida in 1947 established
amendments to the state legislature in Article I Section 6 of the State
Constitution where the state model of the “Wagner Act” was amended
stating that employees can unionize and bargain or not. This is
the Right to Work part of the Wagner Act. The wording “Right to Work” is
a confluent way of allowing the state to hold control over the rights of
workers.
In
the 1960’s teachers were on strike so the legislator came up with
another amendment that passed saying that Public Employees cannot
strike.
Then
in 1969, Dade County CTA vs. Ryan occurred. This case went to the
Florida Supreme Court. The Court
determined that Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution of the
State of Florida gives public employees the same collective bargaining
rights as are enjoyed by private employees, except for the right to
strike.
In
1972 Dade County CTA decided to sue the Florida Legislature. The result
of this case was that the Public Employee Relations Act implemented the
Wagner Act which was modeled after the National Labor Relations Act and
an Administrative Agency with 3 employees appointed by the Governor was
set up. Siwica was pointing out that labor relations, in the state of
Florida is driven by legislation.
A
true victory for labor relations was accomplished in 1975 with the
Weingarten Act. The Weingarten Act says as a union member, you are
allowed to have a union representative with you if you are called into a
meeting that may result in discipline.
(Read the Weingarten act on the CTA Web site at:
http://www.orangecta.org/cta%20resources.htm#Weingarten_Rights
)
Swicia’s message - the bottom line is union members have the power to
get legislators elected who can make these changes. The only way to
affect change is to be in the union. The Right to Work law for public
employees provides that the union bargain for all of the employees in
the unit if they are union members or not. The Weingarten Act
provides representation to union members only.
If
you know someone who is not a union member, let them know they hurt our
cause if they don’t join. We have power in our combined voices. Print a
membership form from the CTA Web site at :
http://www.orangecta.org/CTA%20Membership%20Form.htm
and give it to a nonmember today.
What
I got from the Activist Training is very clear. Don’t give away the
rights that have been won through hard work and negotiations. When you
allow the contract to be ignored on a regular basis (planning and duty
free time infringements) it becomes the status quo and becomes harder to
stop. Stand up for the rights that our previous union leaders fought
for. Enforce the contract.
CTA 2nd Vice President, Elton Wright
End of the March Leadership Report
CTA Secretary, Patricia DeNoon
CTA Members of the FEA Board of Directors Reports
Carl Howard | Diana Moore | Elton Wright
End of January Governance Leadership Report
End of December FEA Governance Board Report
End of Carl Howard's FEA Governance Board Leadership Reports
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