Why support collective bargaining?
Collective bargaining in education offers an organized and transparent system to improve student learning and the overall environment in public schools, and helps ensure that educators receive a professional level of pay.
1. Bargaining results in better teaching and learning conditions.
Educators are bargaining on issues that go beyond salary, benefits, and working conditions. They are bargaining for the common good - over issues such as class size limits, increased time for teachers to share effective classroom practices, guaranteed recess periods, induction and mentoring, restorative practices, increased staffing to address social-emotional needs such as nurses, counselors, and psychologists, a pipeline for career advancement such as grow your own programs, addressing inequities and tackling institutional racism, and school-related and community-wide health and safety issues.
Teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions, so by addressing school and classroom issues, everyone gains.
2. Bargaining supports the fight for social justice.
Educators are driven by purpose. There’s the day-to-day purpose of helping students learn, but there’s also a higher purpose to help improve students’ lives, especially for the growing number who struggle with poverty.
NEA affiliates are using negotiations to “bargain for the common good" - to organize local stakeholders around a set of issues that benefit not just our members in a building, but the wider community as a whole. All educational employees and their associations are standing together to demand better for our schools and our children and for the common good of our communities.
3. Collective bargaining gives educators a voice in their workplace.
Every organization can benefit from the ideas and expertise of its employees. Negotiations ensure that education employees have a respected voice in the workplace and are involved in both identifying and solving school and classroom issues, which in turn promotes student learning.
Through union representatives, front-line educators are given a meaningful say in such issues as the availability of needed resources, teaching of at-risk students, professional development, teacher-to-teacher peer assistance, and worksite health and safety.
4. Bargaining gives new educators more support.
New educators often find teaching to be challenging—and even veteran teachers need extra support if they are teaching new subjects or curriculums. A negotiated mentoring or coaching program is especially helpful so new educators receive feedback and support about curriculum development, classroom management, parent communications, and other responsibilities.
Associations can negotiate or collaborate on identifying the roles and responsibilities for mentors and coaches, the selection process, compensation, and other program elements. The Association can also ensure that the mentoring/coaching program aligns with existing teacher evaluation procedures and that all new teachers understand the system.
5. Collective bargaining secures fair wages and benefits, improving teacher recruitment and retention.
Professional salaries are a significant incentive for recruiting educators to work in a particular district or to choose education as a career. By joining together as an association, educators have more strength in numbers and can negotiate for better compensation and benefits.
Teachers are traditionally underpaid in comparison to comparable professionals. Negotiating as a group helps leverage teachers’ power, not only in terms of compensation and benefits, but also for improved working conditions.
6. Collective bargaining ensures fair employment procedures.
A collectively bargained contract ensures that all employees are treated fairly because both parties have discussed and agreed upon rules and procedures for the workplace.
Employees and managers understand what steps will be used to resolve employee grievances, lay off workers, or settle disputes. Associations and management rely on negotiated impasse procedures to resolve problems. Contracts and/or state laws may also set forth processes and principles for conducting teacher evaluations that are comprehensive, meaningful, and fair, and improve both teacher practices and student learning.
7. Collective bargaining is good public policy.
When educators and management can come to agreement on salary, benefits, and working conditions — while also improving teaching and learning conditions — everyone benefits. And in the healthiest education environments, positive union-management relations is a continuous process – often carried out monthly through a joint labor-management committee.