Building a Local, One Person At a Time

A Tennessee local affiliate uses the human touch to sign up nonmembers, humanize the workplace, and win new rights.

NEA local affiliate:
Blount County (Tennessee) Education Association (BCEA).

The numbers:
BCEA is one of 63 Tennessee Education Association (TEA) local affiliates that have boosted their numbers this year. BCEA, which aims for 100 percent membership, has signed up 73 percent of eligible teachers, support professionals, and administrators--a 3 percent increase over last year.

Consider the odds:
Tennessee is a "right-to-work" state, where an educator can enjoy the fruits of collective bargaining without paying a cent in Association dues. Also, a so-called "professional educator's" organization--which neither bargains for its members nor lobbies consistently on their behalf--competes with TEA locals by spreading myths about Association policies and candidate recommendations.

Talking to the doubters:
When he isn't teaching government and economics classes at William Blount High School, where BCEA membership is at 90 percent, local President Mark Williamson visits non-members to pin down reasons financial or philosophical for refusing to join the Association. If it's a question of NEA policy, Williamson walks the doubter through the NEA Web site (bookmarked on high school library computers), and if it's an issue of political endorsements, Williamson explains that the Association only recommends candidates who demonstrate support for children and public education.

Reaching new teachers:
This year, BCEA signed up some 45 of 50 new teachers during their first day on the job, and Williamson made follow-up visits to learn why the holdouts wouldn't join. It isn't worth not belonging to this NEA local affiliate. BCEA gives new teachers "survival kits," containing everything from band-aids to stress balls, and explains the importance of membership to them in very concrete terms.

An enviable track record:
By maintaining high numbers and involving its members, BCEA has achieved the near-impossible. Over six years, the local helped elect five of seven new school board members--all former educators--and helped force the resignation of a former Director of Schools who stalled contract bargaining and tried to break the union.

Once the school board would only bargain over "light, heat, and air" in school buildings. Today, says Williamson, BCEA enjoys "one of the best contracts in the state"--with guaranteed duty-free lunch and planning periods and strong "personal academic freedom" language--and a positive relationship with district administrators.

A team effort:
Williamson doesn't work alone. He's supported by a reliable cadre of elected Association Representatives (ARs) at the school sites, who are highly visible and "concerned about what's going on in members' lives." At every rep meeting, Williamson asks each AR to report "what's good and what's bad" in his or her school, then follows up with the Director of Schools to address problems. "I tell the reps that what we can't fix we need to work on," Williamson says, "and I encourage them to pick up the phone and call me any time they run into a problem; they know someone's there to back them up."

Breaking through isolation:
"Teachers often feel isolated in the classroom surrounded by kids and few other adults," Williamson points out. "But as Association members they don't feel alone--they've got somebody to talk to about problems and concerns and somebody to sit with them if they face [false] charges filed by parents or kids. We have to work together to help kids; in fact, teachers have to work together on everything."

The importance of numbers:
"Together we bargain, divided we beg," says Williamson, a third-generation union member. "A local organization can only exist as long as it has membership. Without it, the local can be challenged and years of gains can disappear. County officials do pay attention when our group comes to their meetings; they have to make decisions looking into our face!"

Association membership is only built "one person at a time," this local leader concludes. "You influence one person to make a change and then that person influences another. It's this enthusiasm that builds an organization."

--Dave Winans

For more, contact Mark Williamson at wilmsnm@blountk12.org.