Re “UPCC Is Anti-Union, Should Be Stopped, LAUSD Teachers Letter Claims”
This morning’s first posting of the explosive letter from United Teachers Los Angeles to certain Culver City recipients – nailing United Parents of Culver City while touting the Teachers Union’s endorsees – prompted questions of curiosity.
The man with the answers is David Mielke, president of the Teachers Union.
Question: What do you think of the controversy over the UTLA letter to its members living in Culver City?
Mr. Mielke: First, it seems that people are responding to just one part of the letter. Most of the letter is in support of candidates who are most likely to support the new labor/management partnership that has developed between CCUSD and its employee unions – Karlo Silbiger, Claudia Vizcarra and Vernon Taylor.
This “partnership unionism” is a huge step forward, especially when it comes to our schools. UTLA supports this new collaborative process, which has replaced the old, adversarial labor/management dynamic.
The Front Page: But what about the charge that UPCC is anti-union?
Mr. Mielke: UPCC is not the PTA. This parent group was formed, in part, to prevent the “language adjuncts” working at El Marino Language School, from becoming District employees and becoming union members.
Our classified union suggested that people who work in our classrooms each day should be District employees, not employees of a parent group. As such, they should be represented by a union. My understanding is that UPCC was formed, in part, to prevent this from happening.
Does this make them anti-union? It's a fair question.
The Front Page: UPCC counters by saying that some of their leaders are union members.
Mr. Mielke: I would suggest that the measure of an individual's union consciousness is not whether he or she belongs to a union, but whether they support union rights for workers who do not have them.
The Front Page: What is the genesis of the UTLA letter. Did you request it?
Mr. Mielke: Both CCFT and ACE contacted UTLA, asking that they communicate to their members who live in Culver City, asking them to support Karlo Silbiger, Claudia Vizcarra and Vernon Taylor.
We were, and are, anxious to elect School Board members who support the unionization of employees working in our schools and who support collaborative labor/management partnerships.
