This is going to make the Waltons very unhappy. They have spent $200 Million a year funding new charters with the expectation that they would never be unionized. They want public schools to be like Walmart’s: low wage and non-union, with lots of part-time workers.
Sorry, Waltons!
The teachers at the Charter School of Wilmington have voted to unionize.
“Charter School of Wilmington teachers made a huge vote. They became the only current charter school in Delaware to join the Delaware State Education Association. As such, they will be a part of the National Education Association as well. This opens the door for other charter schools to unionize in the future. Often, when one domino falls…”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on DelawareFirstState.
They will just fire the teachers to send a message.
The vote was not overwhelming and whether the relationship will last may be in doubt. The last charter to join the union lasted one-year. Then there is this question: Should the union for public school teachers accept members who are employed in schools that are not strictly “public?”
I do believe that the Union should accept these teachers under certain conditions. If they are TFA or unlicensed, they should have to enroll in an accredited teaching program to get the necessary degree to teach in a public school. They should also be charged the same fees for the same union protection.
yes; to protect both children and professional respect, teachers’ unions should have very clear rules around teacher education and certification
The reason the last union with that charter lasted a year was because the school eventually shut down due to decreased enrollment.
Context matters, Laura.
I’ve heard this was attempted by 2-3 charters in Delaware history. I can say one that lasted a year, Positive Outcomes, is still a charter school. If there are others I do not know that info.
Delaware College Prep Academy was unionized for a year or two before they shut down.
Was Delaware College Prep Academy, a corporate charter school, funded exclusively with public dollars?
No problem. If the union lasts more than a year, close the school and re-open it under new ownership!
If the Waltons are funding that charter school, will they close it and fire all the teachers like they’ve done to Wal-mart stores where the workers voted to unionize.
The Waltons do not fund the Charter School of Wilmington to the best of my knowledge.
Good to know but how accurate is your knowledge. Is there a list that we can access?
The Waltons were not a part of the school’s original founders. Their original application can be found here:
Click to access Wilmington_original_application.pdf
Donating money through a shell and/or foundation is not the same as being an “original founder”
“Reaffirming its commitment to charter schools, the Walton Family Foundation pledged $1 billion to support and bolster charter programs, according to the Associated Press.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-family-pledged-1-billion-to-charter-schools-2016-1
“Support and bolster” does not make them an original founder
It would not shock me if some kind of funding got to Delaware charter schools. I will say they have received money from the Longwood Foundation which is run by the heirs of the DuPont family. They are very conservative and tend to pour money into Delaware charters.
If the DuPont family’s Longwood Foundation cut off the money to that charter if that foundation supports that charter financially, the charter might die on the vine and then there would be no need to fire those teachers that were freshly unionized. Those jobs and that charter schools would just cease to exist.
For instance, what would happen to Eva Moskowitz if all of her wealth benefactors stopped donating money to her evil empire of charter schools in New York City?
The Waltons do not fund this charter school. This charter school is funded almost exclusively through public dollars — state and local funds.
America’s striking teachers are reminding us today how the strength of citizens together in unions can force entrenched politicians to surrender and do what is right and just. All American workers can have that collective power by joining unions. And, AMERICA’S CHURCHES STRONGLY SUPPORT UNIONS: Just read the following strong moral pro-union stances taken by our nation’s mainstream churches and you will then know with certainty that you are morally right to support the expansion of unions and to oppose deceptively-labeled “right to work” laws that in truth are “Prepare to be fired at any time for any or no reason” laws. Here’s what America’s churches say:
CATHOLIC CHURCH — UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS, Pastoral Letter “Economic Justice for All,” 1986: “The [Catholic] Church fully supports the right of workers to form unions or other associations to secure their rights to fair wages and working conditions. This is a specific application of the more general right to associate [this makes unionizing a constitutional right under the First Amendment right of freedom to form associations]. No one may deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself. Therefore, we firmly oppose organized efforts — such as those regrettably seen in this country — to break existing unions or prevent workers from organizing.”
POPE BENEDICT XVI, “Caritas in Veritate,” 2009: “Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labor unions. The repeated calls issued within the Church’s social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum, for the promotion of workers’ associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honored today even more than in the past.”
AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES in the U.S.A. Resolution, 1981: “We reaffirm our position that workers have the right to organize by a free and democratic vote of the workers involved.”
CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN RABBIS, Preamble to the Workplace Fairness Resolution, adopted at the 104th Annual Convention, June 1993: “Jewish leaders, along with our Catholic and Protestant counterparts, have always supported the labor movement and the rights of employees to form unions for the purpose of engaging in collective bargaining and attaining fairness in the workplace. We believe that the permanent replacement of striking workers upsets the balance of power needed for collective bargaining, destroys the dignity of working people and undermines the democratic values of this nation.”
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, Resolution on the Church and Labor, 1938: “We believe in the right of laboring men to organize for protection against unjust conditions and to secure a more adequate share of the fruits of the toil.”
CHRISTIAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH Discipline doctrine, adopted 1982: “Free collective bargaining has proved its value in our free society whenever the parties engaged in collective bargaining have acted in good faith to reach equitable and moral solutions of problems dealing with wages and working conditions.”
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA, Resolution adopted at Churchwide Assembly, 1991: “The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commits itself to advocacy with corporations, businesses, congregations and church-related institutions to protect the rights of workers, support the collective bargaining process, and protect the right to strike.”
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH U.S.A, “Principles of Vocation and Work,” adopted at General Assembly, 1995: “Justice demands that social institutions guarantee all persons the opportunity to participate actively in economic decision making that affects them. All workers — including undocumented, migrant and farm workers — have the right to choose to organize for the purposes of collective bargaining.”
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCIATION OF CONGREGATIONS, adopted at General Assembly, 1997: “The Unitarian Universalist Association urges its member congregations and individual Unitarian Universalists in the United States… to work specifically in favor of mechanisms such as: reform of labor legislation and employment standards to provide greater protection for workers, including the right to organize and bargain collectively, protection from unsafe working conditions and protections from unjust dismissal.”
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, “Resolution Affirming Democratic Principles in an Emerging Global Economy,” adopted at 21st General Synod, 1997: “The 21st General Synod reaffirms the heritage of the United Church of Christ as an advocate for democratic, participatory and inclusive economic policies in both public and private sectors, including … the responsibility of workers to organize unions for collective bargaining with employers regarding wages, benefits and working conditions, and to participate in efforts further to democratize, reform and expand the labor movement domestically and abroad.”
We the People have so much to thank unions for — and it’s a shame that so relatively few know the story of how selfless union workers even gave their lives to put into practice our First Amendment right to freely associate in labor unions and in doing so created The Great American Middle Class. Unionized workers gained equitable and fair incomes not only for themselves but also for non-unionized workers whose companies raised wages and provided benefits comparable to unionized companies in order to retain good employees and to avoid being unionized. Those good wages not only created The Great American Middle Class but also created our consumer-based economy. To bring back the financial health and strength of the Middle Class that our economy needs to grow, we must bring back union strength and membership.
So this radical trade unionist was thinking about Unions today . I had no intention of discussing it here . I was contemplating throwing a Molotov Cocktail on a building trades Facebook page. I probably wont because perhaps only 20-30% might have understood .
Those on the right who criticize unions accuse them of acting like cartels . Unions succeed by limiting the supply of available workers to the members of the cartel . The right is correct and we hear that sentiment here when we discuss charter schools . I have heard some on this blog say that these workers should not be accepted into the Union. That charters are not public schools, that the Union is just trying to collect additional dues.That these Teachers are not as qualified as those that are already in the Union at Public Schools.
These complaints may be true or not true but they represent a tremendous sense of entitlement .It is a similar sentiment that I have heard from workers in the Building Trades. That sentiment reinforces the anti union forces accusation of organized labor as organized cartels and it is as old as the Union movement itself . In 1908 Jack London looking at the split between the IWW and the trade union movement what was later to become the split between the AFL and the CIO; London described a situation where some unions were likely to sell out other Unions and workers, to cut private deals for their own members. .Trotsky in the thirties looking at London’s work was stunned at how accurately London described the failings of American labor .This hit home to me in 2011 when I watched the NYC Building trades join in an assault with the Real Estate Board of NY and Andrew Cuomo on Public workers and Teachers in particular . The quid pro quo was public infrastructure work dangled and delivered by Andrew Cuomo . It should come as no shock that their former partner REBNY , NYC’s Billionaire developers, has now launched a massive extinction level assault on these Union Workers. Joined with the Koch /Bradley… funded , anti Union, Center for Union Facts.
So Unions do function as cartels but what is the alternative . One alternative we were told is meritocracy but it would seem that has not worked too well. The Plutocracy has now merged with the Oligarchy as income inequality has increased dramatically, the middle class has been crushed,wages have stagnated and only a few win the lottery to success. A dystopian future awaits where more and more workers are subject to a gig economy devoid of income security, becoming virtual indentured servants without the benefit of shelter . With an education system tailored K-U to train for servitude.
I suspect the Oligarchs would not prefer Socialism or even perhaps Communism . The absence of an external threat in the form of the Soviet Union has emboldened the elites grab for power and driven inequality. So we are finally seeing labor stir in response to the devastating position teachers are in in states like West Virginia ,Arizona and Oklahoma
but again we are seeing basically private deals of cartels once again. We cheer conservative Republican teachers defeating the status quo conservative politicians . Unless these Unions become broad bass social movements like the Wobblies of old . Like the European style unions, embracing whole sectors of the economy and acting more like political parties. , I fear they are bound to fail in the long run. .
One of the posts yesterday was on Liberal Arts ,Humanities and Higher Education a good article from Alternet today, relevant to both posts. .
https://www.alternet.org/heres-how-higher-education-was-destroyed-5-basic-steps
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correction : bass = based