Appeals Court okays union recognition in charter schools
1st October 2018 · 0 Comments
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled last week that charter schools in Louisiana must recognize and bargain with unions if that is the desire of teachers and school employees.
The ruling by a three-judge panel came down on Sept. 21, affirming a decision by the National Labor Relations Board asserting that the International High School of New Orleans violated the National Labor Relations Act when the group holding the school’s charter refused to recognize the school’s bargaining unit.
“This is a victory for teachers, students and parents in New Orleans,” said United Teachers of New Orleans President Jim Randels. “It means that more people will be working together to improve our schools as partners in education.”
In 2016, teachers at International High School had petitioned or UTNO to be recognized as their bargaining agent in contract negotiations. The petition was signed by over 65 percent of the school’s teachers. That request was rejected by Voices for International Business and Education, the group that holds the school’s charter, claiming that Louisiana law does not allow collective bargaining for public employees without approval of the employer.
The NLRB disagreed. In their ruling, the NLRB asserts that, because Voices is a private employer and not a political subdivision, teachers at the school are employed under federal labor law and not state statute. The court agreed.
In the ruling, Circuit Court Judge Gregg Costa wrote, “There is no way for the public to select the board members who set policy for Voices. We thus agree with the [NLRB] that Voices is not administered by individuals who are responsible to public officials or to the general electorate.”
Rules for negotiating collective bargaining agreements in the public and private sectors are very different. Public school employees in Louisiana may engage in bargaining if their school board agrees. There are about five school systems in the state that have union contracts with educators.
In the cases of private employers, federal labor law applies, meaning employers must negotiate with employees if a majority of the employees petition for a contract.
“When at least 50 percent of the teachers in a charter school request a formal partnership,” Randels said, “we strongly believed – and the court affirmed – that the charter board should work in good faith with the educators they hired.”
It was also noted by the NLRB and the appeals court that Louisiana’s charter school law was deliberately crafted so that the holders of charters are not political subdivisions of the state.
“Because Louisiana chose to insulate its charters from the political process,” the ruling states, “Voices like most other privately controlled employers is subject to the National Labor Relations Act.”
Charters can be authorized either by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education or by local school boards. They operate with independent boards that are subject to fewer rules than traditional public schools. Those boards are not elected, the court ruling says, and “There is no way for the public to select the board members who set policy…”
Three other New Orleans charter schools, Ben Franklin High School, Morris Jeff Community School, and the Mary D. Coghill Charter school, already have collective bargaining agreements with UTNO.
The decision was hailed as a step forward for accountability by Larry Carter, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.
“Educators in charter schools do not have elected boards they can appeal to when policies should be adjusted,” Carter said, “and the voting public has no say in their operation. This ruling at least gives education experts – the teachers and school employees in the classroom – a voice when it comes to the best practices for creating an excellent learning environment.”
UTNO is affiliated with the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers.
This article originally published in the October 1, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
