Bargaining restored in New Orleans, but fight is not over 

Teachers and other school employees in New Orleans are celebrating a decision by the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) to recognize the collective bargaining rights of its employees and re-enter negotiations with the AFT-United Teachers of New Orleans.
AFT-UTNO lost bargaining rights after state and local officials hastily adopted a school reorganization plan in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The union's last contract with the OPSB expired in June 2006, and the school board had refused to consider a resolution to restore bargaining rights.

"The activism of our members and the strong support of our allies are what moved the school board to agree to do the right thing," AFT-UTNO president Brenda Mitchell says.
Chief among AFT-UTNO's allies were members of other unions in the Crescent City. "The board's initial refusal to re-enter negotiations was a difficult and frustrating experience for us," says Mitchell, "but it has given us a labor community in New Orleans that is more united than I've ever seen it."

The New Orleans union's effort to regain collective bargaining rights also garnered the support of many parents, clergy and community activists. "Parents and other members of the community realized that when the union loses its voice, there are problems and issues that stay hidden-and that's not good if the goal is to recognize problems and address them so children can learn," Mitchell explains.

 Yet the union's fight is far from over. The post-Katrina legislative makeover of the New Orleans public schools created three distinct systems-the five OPSB schools, the state-operated Recovery School District schools and a large number of charter schools with different governing authorities.

The vast majority of the more than 2,800 public school faculty and staff in New Orleans are working in charters or the state-run RSD schools, and none of these employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

"We are determined to respond to our brothers and sisters in the RSD and charter schools, who recognize the value that collective bargaining adds to their personal and professional lives," Mitchell says.