The Latest from VEA

By Olivia Geho

Thanks to the Virginia legislature’s ending of the more-than-40-year-ban on public employee bargaining in our state, you may be new to the idea of thinking of your VEA membership as being part of a union—or, if you’ve joined since, new to being in a union. As a member, you belong to your local VEA affiliate; your state affiliate, the VEA; and our nationwide affiliate, the National Education Association, whose 3 million members make it the largest labor union in America. Here’s some information on unions and their members we hope you’ll find helpful.

As a union, it is our mission to create the public schools that our students deserve. We believe that the best way to do that is by improving the working conditions for public school employees, because our working conditions are also students’ learning conditions. When we have the resources we need, students have better schools. When there is less turnover, students benefit. When we can afford to live in the school divisions where we teach, our communities are stronger.

We do this work because we are passionate about helping young people. We wouldn’t tolerate our incredibly difficult working conditions if we weren’t dedicated to our students. Because of our deep passion for this work, it’s easy for many of us to get caught up in the idea that we should sacrifice more and avoid rocking the boat because we do it out of a sense of duty, not because of the money. But as a union, we remind workers that we have value not because we take care of children, but because we are people, too. We deserve healthcare and lunch breaks because we are human beings, not just because it benefits students to have teachers who are healthy and not hungry. We deserve wages that let us thrive, not just survive. We deserve dignity and respect. We can make this a reality by working together to build power and win better contracts.

Collective bargaining is a process in which employees who are represented by a union sit down with their employer to negotiate a contract (referred to as the collective bargaining agreement or CBA). At the bargaining table, workers can negotiate for higher wages, better benefits, improvements to working conditions, and more. Collective bargaining is becoming a standard practice in more school divisions around Virginia. If yours is one, read your contract, become familiar with it, and then seek out your building representative, local president, or UniServ staff person if you have any questions. Attend your local union meetings so you can learn more about your rights and how you can get more involved in our efforts to improve public schools for everyone.

Understandably, many Virginians believe that because Virginia is a Right to Work state, and public sector employees cannot legally go on strike, unions have no power. This couldn’t be further from the truth. A union’s power doesn’t come from its tactics, but from how active and engaged its members are. Public school employees across Virginia have been organizing rallies, creating letter and email campaigns, attending school board meetings en masse, standing up to abusive bosses, enforcing their rights, showing solidarity by wearing union swag, winning contracts, winning union elections, and changing people’s minds about what it means to be part of a union. When you get involved in these actions, you are directly making a difference.

We all know that being a public school employee is more challenging now than ever. Many live paycheck to paycheck. Sometimes our working conditions can become hostile. For those of us in less affluent areas of the Commonwealth, our schools are literally falling down around (and sometimes on top of) us. No one is coming to save public education. We have to save it ourselves.  That’s why, as union members, we are part of a movement for economic justice. We are part of a movement that says, “enough is enough.” We need to invest in our public schools. Nothing will change unless we make it happen. As a statewide and national union, we accomplish things together that one educator, or even one district, can’t.

If you want to change something at your school, in your division, in your state, or even nationally, your union is your way to make that change a reality. Never forget that the union is not an outside organization that comes in and solves your problems. The union is you and your colleagues. You have the power to change things when you organize with your co-workers. Being part of a union isn’t about paying for a service, it’s about taking action to make your workplace better for everyone.

Learn more by talking with your local union leaders, colleagues, and UniServ Director.

Olivia Geho is a communications specialist at the VEA.

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