NEA Staff Union Renews Strike Talk
Inter-union battles are no recent development. For years staff unions (employees who work for unions themselves) have done exactly what union officials urge their members to do – protest and strike when they are not satisfied. Now, with a Janus v. AFSCME decision coming in the next few weeks, and a spate of teacher protests in states across the country, the NEA Staff Organization is talking strike. Madeline Will has the story in Education Week.
More than 80 percent of members of the National Education Association Staff Organization—the union for employees of the National Education Association—voted Wednesday to authorize the NEASO bargaining team and board of directors to call for a strike starting June 12. The staff’s contract expired May 31, and the two sides have yet to come to an agreement over a new contract.
“Everyone on both sides of the table knows that Janus is looming,” Donaldson said. “It’s been in our minds for months now. These are difficult and uncertain times for us. … Our negotiations reflect the prudent approach, reflect the practical approach.”