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In New Mexico, It's Politics With a Difference

By electing an education-friendly governor, NEA and AFT state affiliates gain pro-education legislation—and money to make it work.

Photos: Richard Cummings

New Mexico is fast becoming a textbook example of the positive things that can happen when supporters of public education come together to elect good politicians—and then work hard to make sure these leaders keep their campaign promises.

For seven years, the New Mexico Federation of Educational Employees (NMFEE) and NEA-New Mexico (NEA-NM), the state affiliates of the American Federation of Teachers and NEA, have developed joint legislative platforms and goals to pursue. But a roadblock remained even after these goals were achieved in the state legislature: the governor's veto pen.

All that changed in November 2002, when both unions, working in conjunction with the state AFL-CIO, went all out to elect Democrat Bill Richardson as governor. In just a year since taking office, Richardson has signed landmark bills reinstating collective bargaining rights for public employees and reforming the state's education system in ways that promote teacher quality and better schools. Last autumn, the governor worked with the unions and other allies to get two education-related constitutional amendments passed, including one that will provide millions of dollars to fund the education-reform initiative and substantially raise teacher salaries.

Cooperation between NEA-NM and NMFEE has eliminated an obstacle that unions in other states often face: unfriendly lawmakers who pit labor groups against each other so that everybody loses. By working together for so many years, "We've created one strong public school employee message," says Eduardo Holguin, president of NEA-NM. "And the success we've been able to have has been enormous."

NMFEE President Christine Trujillo says passage of the collective bargaining bill stands out as a highlight of the joint efforts. "We were able to fend off efforts to include onerous language in that bill, and the outcome was a terrific piece of legislation," she says.

The most recent example of the unions' pivotal role in a key victory was the September 23 constitutional amendments election. An amendment increasing the percent of the state's permanent fund that will go to K–12 education over the next decade passed by fewer than 200 votes.

Both unions put substantial resources—human and financial—into passing that amendment, as well as another amendment that created a new position of state secretary of education. NEA-NM, for example, created a strategy called "Give Me Five," in which volunteers in each local union committed to getting five colleagues out to vote yes on the amendments. NMFEE's get-out-the-vote strategy also proved highly successful among its affiliates across the state.

By working together, the AFT and NEA state affiliates also have helped solidify a broader coalition in the state that has been pushing education reform for five years. The coalition supporting the reform measure—which includes a new three-tiered teacher licensing system and higher salaries—has involved associations representing school boards and administrators as well as business and community leaders. The previous governor vetoed a version of the reform bill, but the coalition revived it—winning final passage and Richardson's signature in 2003. The same groups all supported the constitutional amendments. For once, Holguin says, the state now has in place a well-conceived combination of education reform legislation, changes in governance, and more money to make it all work.

As with any partnership, there are times when these NEA and AFT affiliates don't always agree on a given issue. But the relations are strong and predictable, with leaders meeting monthly even when the legislature isn't in session. Now they can deal with any disagreement and not let it stand in the way of a shared concern for the future of public education.

Florida State Faculty Give Union Landslide Victory

A 150-member organizing committee turns out the votes and turns up pressure for an end to 'political interference' on campus.

A recent vote by faculty and professionals at Florida State University (FSU) to elect the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) as their collective bargaining agent reaffirmed UFF chapter President Jack Fiorito's conviction that his colleagues at FSU see union representation as the best—and maybe the only—way to deal with the politically charged environment on that campus as well as at other public universities in the state.

In October, faculty and professionals at FSU chose UFF as their exclusive representative by a huge margin: 736 to 33. "This overwhelming faculty vote for the United Faculty of Florida shows convincingly that the FSU faculty wants a strong independent voice in the terms and conditions of employment," says Fiorito.

UFF is an affiliate of the Florida Education Association, the merged AFT-NEA state organization.

"It's clear [that] faculty want the protections of a contract to defend basic rights and to insulate themselves from political interference in the conduct of their professional lives," statewide UFF President Tom Auxter adds.

The vote at FSU brings to 10 the number of institutions in the 11-campus public university system where the faculty has chosen UFF representation.

The union has been representing the employees for years, but when Gov. Jeb Bush and the legislature reorganized the higher education system last year, they changed the status of the UFF. As a result, seven faculty chapters have successfully sought voluntary recognition from their university boards of trustees and three more have won elections. The only unit election yet to be held is at the University of Florida.

Why such a need to recertify UFF? Faculty perceive that many other challenges of university life have to do with the state's political environment, says Fiorito. He cites as an example his experience serving on the search committee that chose a former business partner of the chair of the FSU board of trustees as the president of FSU. Another example that faculty point to is the disparity between administrative salaries, which are higher than those at comparable institutions, and faculty salaries, which are lower.

The UFF chapter had an organizing committee of 150. That structure, and UFF's success in reinstating payroll dues deduction—which had been lost in Gov. Bush's reorganization—was empowering, says John Kerbs, a union department representative. Kerbs, an assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice, notes that "bringing back dues deduction not only made membership more attractive and accessible, but it also helped potential members see UFF as a competent and strong union."

In the end, the voice of the faculty came through loud and clear, Auxter says.