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Nov. 5 Election Clinches Organizing Victory
Arizona congressional and local election returns virtually guaranteed recognition for 354 middle management school employees, said Linda Hatfield, president of Local 7026, which has been working with Labor 2002 and with the workers in their quest for affiliation with CWA.
Canvassing locations spread over 30 square miles, seven of 354 middle management employees represented by the Tucson Unified School District's Supervisory and Professional Unit quickly collected 192 signatures on a petition supporting affiliation, and CWA arranged for an independent election to be run by the League of Women Voters.
Hatfield said the local had indications from earlier meetings that management would abide by the election results but 10 days before balloting received a letter saying they had no intention of recognizing CWA.
"We already had our materials out there so, knowing that school board elections were Nov. 5, we decided to go through with the union election anyway," Hatfield said. he workers voted 102-9 on Sept. 17 to join CWA.
The local, which organized 1,500 administrative and professional employees in Tucson city government last year, supported two new candidates for school board - both winners - whose votes will ensure approval for the affiliation when the new five-member board sits in January.
Labor-friendly attorney Bruce Burke and Adelita Grijalva, the daughter of newly elected Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-7th), both won school board seats with Local 7026's support.
Rep. Grijalva, who also expressed approval for the affiliation, won election to the newly created 7th District seat with the support of Labor 2002. Hatfield said the local had volunteers out leafleting on his behalf every weekend since September. She said former Local 7026 president Michael McGrath, now Secretary-Treasurer of the state AFL-CIO, put more than 20 volunteers on the street in support of Democrats Grijalva, newly elected Gov. Janet Napolitano and Mary Judge Ryan, who ran unsuccessfully for the 8th District congressional seat.
The Supervisory and Professional Unit represents supervisors of food peparation, bus transportation and other services and is preparing to bargain a new three-year contract covering union recognition and work rules.
Canvassing locations spread over 30 square miles, seven of 354 middle management employees represented by the Tucson Unified School District's Supervisory and Professional Unit quickly collected 192 signatures on a petition supporting affiliation, and CWA arranged for an independent election to be run by the League of Women Voters.
Hatfield said the local had indications from earlier meetings that management would abide by the election results but 10 days before balloting received a letter saying they had no intention of recognizing CWA.
"We already had our materials out there so, knowing that school board elections were Nov. 5, we decided to go through with the union election anyway," Hatfield said. he workers voted 102-9 on Sept. 17 to join CWA.
The local, which organized 1,500 administrative and professional employees in Tucson city government last year, supported two new candidates for school board - both winners - whose votes will ensure approval for the affiliation when the new five-member board sits in January.
Labor-friendly attorney Bruce Burke and Adelita Grijalva, the daughter of newly elected Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-7th), both won school board seats with Local 7026's support.
Rep. Grijalva, who also expressed approval for the affiliation, won election to the newly created 7th District seat with the support of Labor 2002. Hatfield said the local had volunteers out leafleting on his behalf every weekend since September. She said former Local 7026 president Michael McGrath, now Secretary-Treasurer of the state AFL-CIO, put more than 20 volunteers on the street in support of Democrats Grijalva, newly elected Gov. Janet Napolitano and Mary Judge Ryan, who ran unsuccessfully for the 8th District congressional seat.
The Supervisory and Professional Unit represents supervisors of food peparation, bus transportation and other services and is preparing to bargain a new three-year contract covering union recognition and work rules.