Re “UPCC Is Anti-Union, Should Be Stopped, LAUSD Teachers Letter”
[img]2228|right|Warren Fletcher||no_popup[/img]Warren Fletcher told the newspaper this morning there is an uncomplicated explanation for including explosive contents in the letter that his union, United Teachers Los Angeles, recently sent to Culver City voters.
Ostensibly, the 300-worder recommended the three choices for the Culver City School Board on Nov.5 that two Culver City unions chose two months ago.
Had they left it at that, the recipients would have yawned and the flies in the room would have returned to a neutral corner.
But voters across the community are jawing about the dynamite letter days later because three acerbic charges were leveled against the fledgling parents union, United Parents of Culver City.
Mr. Fletcher implied – but did not specifically say – that UTLA was an innocent bystander, that the train was driven by the two Culver City school unions, the Teachers Union and the Assn. of Classified Employees.
That means:
“We cut and pasted from literature we received,” Mr. Fletcher said. “That was all we could do.”
This statement throws into question the veracity of an earlier report that UTLA was tipped that an allegedly anti-union atmosphere was leaking across Culver City’s school community, and an investigation was warranted. The report said that UTLA conducted its own research, found disturbing evidence of the accusations, and created the smoking letter.
Not so at all, Mr. Fletcher said. “We have no interest in doing anything other than making sure that teachers who are members of UTLA but live in Culver City are informed of who the endorsed candidates are.
“That is the entirety of our job. As I said, it was a cut-and-paste job that is the heart of the message.”
Mielke’s Response
On a related matter, there is news about the controversial letter that Teachers Union President David Mielke sent to voters the other day at the behest of the County Federation of Labor. The letter arrested attention because the third candidate endorsed by the school unions, Vernon Taylor, was left out because the unacknowledged County Fed declined to endorse him.
The question put to Mr. Mielke was:
What was the nature of the help provided by the County Fed, financial or a mailing list?
Said Mr. Mielke: “We’re not going to go into detail on how other unions and labor organizations help us. Some help financially. Some will give lists and mailing labels. Some will write letters. Some will do robo calls. Some will help with phone banking.
“The County Fed's policy: They will help, but they insist, correctly I think, that they endorse candidates and our efforts, using their resources, are limited to those candidates. Vernon did not receive their endorsement.”
