9 months ago
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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US HERE AT SIX. I’M BRITTANY DECKER AND I’M IAN REITZ. WE’RE GOING TO START OFF TONIGHT IN BESSEMER. THAT’S WHERE AN ALABAMA TEACHERS UNION SAYS BESSEMER CITY SCHOOLS HAS BEEN MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR TEACHERS AND STAFF TO JOIN THE UNION. THIS IS THE ONLY STORY YOU’LL SEE ONLY HERE ON WVTM 13 ARE. LISA CRANE IS FOLLOWING THIS FOR US. SHE’S LIVE AT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICE. LISA, THERE IS A STATE LAW THAT DICTATES THIS CORRECT? YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT. YOU KNOW, BY LAW, THEY HAVE UNTIL THE CLOSE OF BUSINESS ON SEPTEMBER 15TH TO DECIDE WHETHER TO JOIN THE UNION OR AN ASSOCIATION. NOW, THAT’S TOMORROW. BUT SEVERAL BESSEMER TEACHERS REPORTED TO THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS THAT DISTRICT OFFICIALS WERE TELLING THEM THEY HAD ALREADY MISSED THIS DEADLINE. SO AFT OFFICIALS DECIDED TO CALL THE DISTRICTS THEMSELVES TO FIND OUT WHAT LEADERS WOULD TELL THEM. I’M A MEMBER OVER AT GREENWOOD AND I WAS WANTING TO DROP AND JOIN AFT. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO DO THAT? WELL, AT THIS TIME, THE OPEN ENROLLMENT HAS CLOSED FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR. THAT WAS ACTUALLY AN AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS EMPLOYEE PRESIDENT ERIC HUGHES SAYS THEY HAD RECEIVED SEVERAL CALLS FROM TEACHERS ABOUT THE MISINFORMATION. SO THEY DECIDED TO FIND OUT FOR THEMSELVES WHAT INFORMATION WAS BEING GIVEN OUT. WHEN SOMEONE CONTACTED THE BESSEMER SCHOOL DISTRICT AND ASKED ABOUT BEING AN AFT MEMBER. THAT’S A HUGE RED FLAG BECAUSE WHY ARE THEY NOT GIVING ME THE CHOICE AS A HUMAN TO DECIDE WHERE I WANTED TO GO AND WHO I WANTED TO REPRESENT ME, HUGHES SAYS. SHE ASKED THE SUPERINTENDENT AND OTHER DISTRICT LEADERS TO CORRECT THE ERRONEOUS INFORMATION AND LET THE TEACHERS AND STAFF KNOW THEY STILL HAD TIME TO MAKE THEIR CHOICE, REQUESTED FOR THEM TO SEND AN EMAIL, A CORRECTION EMAIL ASKING THEM TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT THE 10TH IS NOT THE DEADLINE. IT’S SEPTEMBER 15TH AND THEY STILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO JOIN ANY UNION, ASSOCIATION OR ORGANIZATION THAT THEY CHOOSE. AND THEY DECLINED TO DO SO THIS AFTERNOON. SUPERINTENDENT DR. DANA ARREOLA SENT ME THIS STATEMENT SAYING IN PART, WE HAVE NOTIFIED EMPLOYEES OF THE SEPTEMBER 15TH DEADLINE TO MAKE UNION CHANGES AND MY TEAM WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ASSIST EMPLOYEES WITH MAKING THESE CHANGES TO ENSURE THEY MEET THE DEADLINE. NOW WE ALSO SPOKE TO AN ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVE TODAY WHO TOLD ME EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THE DEADLINE TO JOIN AN AFFILIATION IS SEPTEMBER 15TH OF EVERY YEAR. AND THEY ALSO SAID IF ANYONE IS HAVING CHANGES, IS HAVING TROUBLE, WHETHER MAKING CHANGES THIS YEAR, THEY SHOULD CONTACT THE
Teachers union says Bessemer making it difficult for teachers to join
District giving teachers erroneous information about deadline to join
An Alabama teachers union says Bessemer City Schools has been making it difficult for teachers and staff to join their union. It's a story you'll only see on WVTM13. State law actually dictates that they have until the close of business on Sept. 15 to make their affiliation decision.Teachers and staff can choose to be a part of an association or a union and they have to declare that to their district. Some Bessemer teachers said when they called the district office to change affiliation, they were told the deadline to make that decision had passed. So, an AFT employee decided to call the district herself and find out what teachers were being told. She taped the call.She said, “I'm an AEA member over at Greenwood, I was wanting to drop and join AFT, what do I need to do to do that?” A district employee answered, “Well, at this time, the open enrollment process is closed for this school year.”AFT President Erika Hughes says they had received several calls from teachers about the misinformation, so she wasn’t surprised to hear that same erroneous information. She said, “That's a huge red flag because why are they not giving me the choice as a human to decide where I wanted to go and who I wanted to represent me?”Hughes says she asked the superintendent and other district leaders to correct the erroneous information and let teachers and staff know they still had time to make their choice.“(I) requested for them to send an email or a correction email asking them to let everyone know that the 10th is not the deadline, it's Sept. 15 and they still have the right to join in a union association or organization that they choose and they declined to do so," Hughes said. Thursday afternoon, Superintendent Dr. Dana Arreola sent WVTM13 a statement, saying in part, "We have notified employees of the September 15th deadline to make union changes and my team will be available to assist employees with making these changes to ensure they meet the deadline."An Alabama Education Association representative said everyone should know the deadline to declare an affiliation with the AEA or AFT is Sept. 15. And if anyone is having trouble making a change, they can contact the AEA for help.
BESSEMER, Ala. —
An Alabama teachers union says Bessemer City Schools has been making it difficult for teachers and staff to join their union. It's a story you'll only see on WVTM13. State law actually dictates that they have until the close of business on Sept. 15 to make their affiliation decision.
Teachers and staff can choose to be a part of an association or a union and they have to declare that to their district. Some Bessemer teachers said when they called the district office to change affiliation, they were told the deadline to make that decision had passed. So, an AFT employee decided to call the district herself and find out what teachers were being told. She taped the call.
She said, “I'm an AEA member over at Greenwood, I was wanting to drop and join AFT, what do I need to do to do that?” A district employee answered, “Well, at this time, the open enrollment process is closed for this school year.”
AFT President Erika Hughes says they had received several calls from teachers about the misinformation, so she wasn’t surprised to hear that same erroneous information. She said, “That's a huge red flag because why are they not giving me the choice as a human to decide where I wanted to go and who I wanted to represent me?”
Hughes says she asked the superintendent and other district leaders to correct the erroneous information and let teachers and staff know they still had time to make their choice.
“(I) requested for them to send an email or a correction email asking them to let everyone know that the 10th is not the deadline, it's Sept. 15 and they still have the right to join in a union association or organization that they choose and they declined to do so," Hughes said.
Thursday afternoon, Superintendent Dr. Dana Arreola sent WVTM13 a statement, saying in part, "We have notified employees of the September 15th deadline to make union changes and my team will be available to assist employees with making these changes to ensure they meet the deadline."
An Alabama Education Association representative said everyone should know the deadline to declare an affiliation with the AEA or AFT is Sept. 15. And if anyone is having trouble making a change, they can contact the AEA for help.
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