CA
Organizing charter schools is a feat, so the 19 classified employees and 14 teachers at River Oak Elementary, a charter school in Ukia, Calif., deserve recognition for affiliating with the AFT earlier this year. The state labor board certified their unit in February as part of the Mendocino County Federation of School Employees.

NM
Call it another hard-won battle for school employees in Gallup-McKinley County who lost their bargaining rights to an anti-union governor in 1999 and had to inch their way back. Even with a friendly governor starting in 2003, the local union still had to face down a hostile superintendent, school board and local labor board.

It took politics and organizing to turn things around. Working with the Navajo Nation, AFT activists helped usher out the superintendent and elect a more enlightened school board. "This victory was as much political as anything," says AFT organizer Rethea Morris, who ran the campaign. Since the state labor board ordered union recognition in February, Gallup's members have started rebuilding.

NY
In a victory for upwards of 3,700 school secretaries who belong to the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, an arbitrator has ruled that the city violated the union contract and the law by assigning secretaries' work—such as handling students' confidential files—to aides and other unlicensed staff. The arbitrator ordered the city to stop the practice and is keeping an eye on the case to make sure his decision is carried out.

The March 21 decision will reverse a problem that's been growing since the 1960s, says Jackie Ervolina, the secretaries' chapter chair.

The decision elated long-suffering UFT members. "Reason has finally prevailed," says school secretary Faye Hugel. "If it were not for the UFT standing behind us, we would have been eliminated one by one."

OK
AFT members in Oklahoma are fighting state legislation that would let a number of school systems become charter school districts, opening the door for them to decertify their unions. The bill, S.B. 2100, has passed the state Senate and is expected to move in the state House.

Our members at AFT 6049 Oklahoma in Tulsa and the Oklahoma City Federation of Classified Employees have mounted a vigorous online campaign using the AFT's GetActive system to write hundreds of letters to their governor and legislators.

"We're watching it very closely, you know we are," says David Gray, president of the Oklahoma City classified federation and an AFT vice president, "because that's our very existence at stake."

WV
School support personnel scored a victory in March with a change to the state code that should help curb disruptive and violent behavior in school and on school buses. AFT-West Virginia and the independent West Virginia School Service Personnel Association worked together to get state lawmakers to pass the initiative.

One highlight of the bill is that a school bus driver must be a member of the local school improvement council, which reviews disciplinary measures for fairness and consistency. The new law also includes tougher penalties for disruptive students and a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for students and school staff.

"It's due to the coalition with WVSSPA that we succeeded in driving home the message that it was time to implement better discipline policies without delay," says AFT-West Virginia staffer Bob Morgenstern. "This is a major accomplishment that shows the importance of strength in numbers," adds Jackee Long, WVSSPA president.