Montana Fed, NEA affiliate celebrate merger
Wisconsin whistleblowers protected
AFT wins first contract for private sector bus drivers

Montana Fed, NEA affiliate celebrate merger

The AFT-affiliated Montana Federation of Teachers (MFT) and its NEA counterpart, the Montana Education Association (MEA), put the finishing touches on their merger during their first joint Representative Assembly this spring. The MFT and the MEA have been working toward a merger for almost a decade. The two unions began coordinating their legislative efforts in the early 1990s. In 1996, delegates to the MFT's convention voted to pursue full merger, and the MEA followed suit a year later.

"We are on the cutting edge of a national movement," Montana Federation of Teachers president Jim McGarvey says. "The world is changing rapidly, and unions are changing to keep pace. We're building new partnerships and working together in new ways to meet the challenges of the future. That's what this merger is all about."

Teachers, state employees and others represented by the two organizations have seen the advantages of joining forces, MEA president Eric Feaver says. "Cooperative efforts between MEA and MFT have resulted in a long list of successes for our members and the people our members serve."

Feaver will serve as the president of the MEA-MFT, while McGarvey will serve as vice president of the newly merged union. Marilyn Bryan is its secretary-treasurer.

Calling the merger "great news for all children and citizens of Montana," AFT president Sandra Feldman sent her congratulations to the MFT and MEA.

"At a time when public education and all our institutions are under attack, the spirit of unity and solidarity that your merger represents will make a real contribution toward improving the lives of our members and the children and families we serve," Feldman said. Some 400 members and elected leaders of the two state unions attended the Representative Assembly.

Wisconsin whistleblowers protected

Wisconsin health care professionals who blow the whistle on problems with the quality or safety of patient care where they work will be protected, thanks to legislation spurred by the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals and passed by the state legislature on March 7. The whistleblower bill, which passed the State Assembly unanimously and passed the Senate with only four dissenting votes, "is about patient protection," says WFNHP president Candice Owley, who is also an AFT vice president and chair of the AFT health care division's program and policy council. "Nurses and health care workers will no longer have to fear retaliation if they report a concern with quality care. This is a step in the right direction for Wisconsin."

As more and more health care providers use the bottom line to measure success, health care workers must be able to voice their concerns about threats to quality care. Thanks to union efforts, notes Owley, the final bill also requires employers to post written notices in "conspicuous" places detailing the new employee protections or face fines for failing to do so.

AFT wins first contract for private sector bus drivers

For years, school bus drivers in Las Cruces, N.M., have worked for a private contractor. And while the company in charge has changed a few times, the bus drivers' working conditions haven't--near-poverty wages, health insurance most can't afford and a general lack of respect for the important work they do.

Fed up with being treated so poorly, some of the drivers turned to the New Mexico Federation of Teachers and its local affiliate, the Classified School Employees Council (CSEC), in an attempt to organize and improve their lot through collective bargaining. Despite a strong anti-union campaign by Helweg and Farmer (the Kansas-based company that runs the school bus operation), CSEC won bargaining rights for the bus drivers in December 1998. But even with that obstacle behind them, CSEC's path was anything but smooth. Contentious contract negotiations with the company lasted almost a year, and the union also fended off a decertification attempt earlier this year.

Now, with their first contract in hand, the bus drivers are already seeing significant progress in a number of areas. The drivers won a 3 percent salary increase at the start of the contract and will get another 3 percent raise in the fall. In the past, not only did they rarely get raises, they had to deal with wage cuts, says Veronica Medina, a leader of the newly unionized group. The lack of raises over the years was so bad, she adds, that one driver with 30 years of experience was making only 50 cents an hour more than new hires.

Among the other improvements in the new contract: due-process rights after two years, arbitration and grievances, a committee to look at more affordable health insurance options, and seniority rights in bidding for new runs. One of the biggest gains was an agreement by the company to write a letter of intent to the state Employment Security Commission stating that the drivers will be employed the next year, which means they can collect unemployment during the summer without having to conduct a job search.

Even though the bus drivers are private sector employees, they share many common issues with other members of CSEC, which is a merged affiliate of both the AFT and the National Education Association, says CSEC president Irma Valdespino. The union is working on signing up new members and integrating them into the union, which will include a vice president-level position for transportation.

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001