Latest / Randy Unscripted / The Union Without Teeth

Transcript

The Union Without Teeth · Randy Unscripted

0:34
Randy Black: A podcast where I just kind of talk about things that come across my brain,
0:40
you know, whenever they just happen to come across it.
0:44
Today, I want to talk about something that's kind of been rattling around in
0:47
my head for quite a while. We're talking like years of time it's been running
0:51
around in my head, and that's teachers' unions.
0:54
And I work in education, so don't get me wrong. I understand the place and the
0:58
point they're there for.
0:59
But more specifically, I really
1:01
want to focus on the teachers unions in my home state of West Virginia.
1:06
Now, depending on your background, the very mention of teachers unions may already
1:12
have you taking sides, taking a position.
1:15
Some people view them as essential advocates for educators.
1:19
Others see them as political organizations that have long outlived any sense
1:26
of usefulness that they may have had.
1:28
But that's not really where I want to start at with what I want to talk about
1:32
today. I want to start with a question.
1:36
And that question is, what makes a union a union?
1:41
Now think about that for a moment. When most Americans hear the word union,
1:44
they picture workers coming together to negotiate with management.
1:49
They think about contracts.
1:51
They think about collective bargaining, and they think about leverage.
1:56
Now, whether you support unions or you oppose them, that's generally the understanding
2:00
that most people have about them.
2:03
A union exists to represent its members at the bargaining table.
2:08
But here in West Virginia, public school teachers don't have collective bargaining rights.
2:13
Their unions don't negotiate contracts with county school systems.
2:17
They don't sit across the table and bargain salaries. They don't negotiate for benefits packages.
2:23
They don't establish binding agreements that govern working conditions.
2:29
So that raises a question that I don't think gets asked nearly often enough.
2:34
If a union can't collectively bargain, what exactly is its role?
2:41
And perhaps more importantly, what are teachers getting in return for their
2:45
membership and support?
2:48
Now, before anyone accuses me of attacking teachers, let me be very clear.
2:52
This episode isn't about the teachers.
2:54
I'm a teacher. That's what my degree's in. I've worked in education for over
2:57
20 years as a teacher, as a tech coach, and now on the technology side of managing things.
3:03
And teachers have one of the most difficult jobs in our society.
3:09
They deal with challenges that many people outside of education never see.
3:14
They deserve support.
3:16
They deserve respect. And they deserve to have effective representation.
3:23
The question is whether the organizations that are representing them are actually
3:29
positioned to deliver any type of meaningful results.
3:34
Because if the primary toll that gives unions their power is absent, then what remains?
3:41
And that's the question I want to explore today. Not whether teachers deserve
3:46
a voice, not whether education faces challenges,
3:51
but whether a union without collective bargaining is really a union at all.
3:58
And if it isn't, then what exactly has it become?
4:04
Now, before we can answer whether West Virginia's teachers' unions are effective,
4:08
we first need to answer a more basic question.
4:11
What gives any union its power?
4:15
Now, historically, labor unions emerged because individual workers had very little leverage.
4:22
One worker demanding better pay could be ignored.
4:26
One worker complaining about the conditions could easily be replaced.
4:31
But a group of workers acting together? Well, now that's a different story.
4:37
The strength of a union wasn't found in its logo, in its leadership,
4:42
or even in its membership numbers.
4:44
It came from leverage.
4:47
More specifically, collective leverage. Workers acting as a single unit had
4:54
the ability to negotiate from a position of strength.
4:57
Employers couldn't simply ignore hundreds or thousands of workers the way they
5:02
could ignore one individual employee.
5:05
That's where collective bargaining comes in.
5:08
Collective bargaining is the process through which employees negotiate with
5:12
employers over wages, benefits, workplace conditions, grievance procedures,
5:17
and other terms of their employment.
5:19
It's the mechanism that turns a collection of workers into a negotiating force.
5:25
And whether you're pro-union or anti-union, most people would agree that collective
5:29
bargaining is the defining feature of a labor union.
5:33
Without it, a union becomes something else.
5:38
Maybe it becomes an advocacy unit or organization.
5:43
Maybe it becomes a professional association. Maybe it's a lobbying group.
5:49
But it isn't functioning in the way that most people traditionally understand a union.
5:55
And that's where things get interesting in my home state here in West Virginia.
5:59
Because when it comes to public school teachers, that defining tool simply doesn't exist.
6:07
Teachers, they can organize. They can advocate.
6:11
They can rally. They can contact their legislators. They can speak publicly,
6:16
but they cannot collectively bargain with their employers in the way teachers
6:21
can in many other states.
6:23
And that's not a minor detail. That's an entire ballgame.
6:28
Because if your primary source of leverage is removed, you're left relying on
6:32
something else entirely.
6:34
Politics. That's where I think the conversation becomes much more complicated.
6:40
Because lobbying politicians and negotiating contracts are not,
6:44
in any way, the same thing.
6:46
One depends on persuading elected officials. The other depends on negotiating
6:51
directly with the employer.
6:53
One is indirect. The other is direct. One is influence. The other is leverage.
6:58
And there is a significant difference between the two.
7:02
So if West Virginia's teachers unions don't have the leverage that comes with
7:06
collective bargaining, then what exactly are they offering their members instead?
7:12
And that's where we need to go next.
7:15
So, if collective bargaining is off the table, what exactly do teachers receive from their unions?
7:23
That's a fair question. After all, union membership isn't free.
7:26
Teachers pay dues, and like any organization that collects dues,
7:31
there should be a reasonable expectation that members receive something of value in return.
7:37
To be fair, the unions do provide services. Members often receive professional liability coverage.
7:45
They may have access to legal representation in certain situations.
7:50
There's training opportunities, conferences, professional resources,
7:54
and there's networking opportunities.
7:56
The unions also, though, spend a significant amount of time monitoring legislation
8:01
and lobbying elected officials on issues that do affect education and their members.
8:06
And none of those things are inherently bad. In fact, some of them are genuinely valuable.
8:12
But here's where I begin to struggle. Most teachers don't join a union because
8:18
they're looking for conference discounts or professional development opportunities.
8:23
They join because they want representation.
8:26
They want someone who's fighting for their interests. They want an organization
8:30
that can improve their working conditions, protect their benefits,
8:34
and advocate for better compensation.
8:37
And that's where the question becomes unavoidable.
8:40
How effective can that representation really be when the organization lacks
8:45
the authority to negotiate directly on behalf of its members?
8:50
Think about it this way. Imagine hiring an attorney who is not allowed to appear in court.
8:56
They might be knowledgeable. They might give amazingly good advice.
9:01
They might genuinely care about your situation.
9:04
But if they're prohibited from using their primary tool of their profession,
9:10
their effectiveness is naturally limited.
9:13
The same principle applies here. Without collective bargaining,
9:17
teachers unions are left trying to influence outcomes indirectly through the political process.
9:23
And that, that's a very different mission than what most people associate with organized labor.
9:29
In many ways, what exists in West Virginia today looks less like a labor union
9:34
and more like an advocacy organization.
9:37
An advocacy organization, can lobby. It can endorse candidates.
9:42
It can organize campaigns. It can encourage its members to contact legislators.
9:47
It can raise awareness, but ultimately, it cannot compel decision makers to
9:52
come to the table and to negotiate.
9:56
It can ask. It can persuade. It can pressure, but it cannot bargain.
10:02
And that distinction matters because when teachers face concerns about salaries,
10:08
about health insurance costs, about classroom discipline, staff shortages,
10:12
or workplace conditions,
10:14
the organization representing them is forced to pursue solutions through politics,
10:20
rather than negotiation.
10:22
And politics is a very, very uncertain vehicle for change. Election cycles come and go.
10:29
Legislative priorities shift. Political majorities change. Promises are made
10:35
and promises are forgotten.
10:37
Meanwhile, teachers continue showing up to work every day, hoping someone is
10:43
effectively representing their interests.
10:46
Which brings us to the question that sets at the heart at this entire discussion.
10:51
If the union's primary strategy is political advocacy, what evidence do we have that it's even working?
11:00
Now, to be fair, no organization can solve every problem.
11:05
That's true of unions. It's true of governments. It's true of businesses.
11:10
And it's true of advocacy groups.
11:12
So I'm not suggesting that every challenge facing education in West Virginia
11:16
can be laid at the feet of the teachers' unions. That would be ridiculous.
11:21
But if we're going to evaluate whether an organization is effective,
11:24
we have to look at the outcomes.
11:26
We have to ask a simple question. What has changed?
11:31
For years, teachers have expressed concerns about their compensation.
11:36
For years, they've expressed concerns about PIA, the Public Employees Insurance Association.
11:42
For years, they've expressed concerns about the staffing shortages we're experiencing.
11:47
For years, they've expressed concerns about student discipline,
11:50
classroom disruptions, increasing
11:52
workloads, and growing expectations that are placed on educators.
11:57
Those are not new conversations. In fact, some of these issues have been around
12:01
for decades, and yet many of them have remained unresolved.
12:06
Teachers shortages continue to be a concern. Many educators are still expressing
12:12
frustration about health care costs.
12:14
School systems continue struggling to recruit and to retain qualified personnel in certain areas.
12:21
Concerns about classroom behavior
12:23
and discipline continue to surface in conversations all across the state.
12:28
Again i'm not claiming the unions cause these problems my question is different,
12:34
if these problems continue year after year what evidence do we have that the
12:40
organizations representing these teachers possess the power necessary to solve them,
12:46
because that's ultimately what representation is about results.
12:51
Not press releases, not statements, not social media posts, results.
12:58
An organization should not be judged solely by what it says.
13:02
It should be judged by what it achieves.
13:05
And when I look across the educational landscape throughout West Virginia,
13:08
I find myself asking whether the unions have confused activity with effectiveness,
13:14
because there is a difference.
13:16
An organization can be very busy. It can hold meetings.
13:20
It can issue statements. It can organize campaigns, send emails,
13:23
endorse candidates, mobilize supporters, generate headlines.
13:27
But none of those things necessarily translate into meaningful change.
13:34
Activity is not the same thing as accomplishment. And that's where I think many
13:38
teachers find themselves frustrated.
13:41
Because frustration often grows when expectations and reality drift apart.
13:47
Teachers are told they have representation. They're told they have advocates.
13:52
They're told someone is fighting for them.
13:55
Yet many of the problems they care most about seem remarkably resistant to improvement.
14:02
At some point, it's reasonable to ask whether the issue is effort or whether the issue is power.
14:09
Because those are not the same thing. Maybe the people involved are working
14:12
hard. Maybe they genuinely care.
14:15
Maybe they're doing everything they can.
14:19
But if the structure itself prevents meaningful leverage, then effort alone may not be enough.
14:26
And that brings us to an event that many listeners are probably already thinking
14:29
about. The 2018 teacher strike.
14:33
Because if there's one moment people point to when they're discussing the power
14:37
of teachers' unions in West Virginia, it's that strike.
14:41
But was that event really an example of union power? Or maybe was it something else entirely?
14:50
Whenever the subject of teachers' unions comes up in West Virginia,
14:54
one event recently inevitably enters the conversation, and that's the 2018 teachers' strike.
15:01
For many people, that strike stands as proof that teachers' unions still possess
15:05
significant power and significant influence.
15:08
And on the surface, that's a reasonable conclusion. After all,
15:13
the strike captured national attention.
15:16
Schools closed across the state. Teachers filled the Capitol.
15:20
State leaders found themselves under tremendous pressure, and ultimately,
15:25
some concessions were made.
15:27
It was one of the most significant moments in recent West Virginia educational
15:30
history. But I think there's a deeper question that's worth asking.
15:35
What exactly made that strike successful?
15:39
Was it union power?
15:41
Or was it teacher power? Because those aren't necessarily the same thing.
15:45
It's important to remember that public employee strikes in West Virginia are illegal.
15:50
Teachers do not possess a legally protected right to strike in the same way
15:55
that workers in some private sector unions do.
15:59
In other words, the most significant labor action associated with teachers in
16:04
modern West Virginia history occurred outside the traditional framework of collective
16:09
bargaining and outside a legally recognized strike process.
16:14
Think about that for a moment. The event most frequently cited as evidence of
16:20
union strength wasn't the result of a negotiated contract.
16:25
It wasn't the result of collective bargaining, and it wasn't the result of a
16:30
legally sanctioned strike.
16:33
Instead, it was the result of thousands of teachers acting together and creating
16:38
enough political pressure that state leaders could no longer ignore them.
16:43
And that's an important distinction because what the strike demonstrated was
16:47
not necessarily the power of the unions themselves.
16:50
It demonstrated the power of collective action.
16:53
The power existed in the hands of the teachers.
16:57
The power existed in their willingness to stand together.
17:01
The power existed in their numbers. And the power existed in their ability to
17:06
disrupt the normal operation of the educational system.
17:11
In many ways, the strike may actually support the argument I've been making
17:14
throughout this entire episode.
17:17
Because when teachers wanted meaningful change, they didn't achieve it through
17:22
collective bargaining.
17:24
They couldn't. That mechanism simply does not exist.
17:29
Instead, they achieved it through public pressure and political action.
17:33
The same tools available to virtually any large organized group.
17:39
And that then raises an uncomfortable question. If the union's greatest success
17:45
came through a process that didn't involve collective bargaining and wasn't
17:48
even legal under state law,
17:50
what does that say about the actual power of the organizations themselves?
17:56
Was the victory evidence that the unions were strong? Or was it evidence that
18:00
the teachers were strong despite the limitations placed on their unions.
18:05
And I think that's a question worth considering.
18:09
Now, at this point in the episode, some listeners may be wondering whether I'm
18:12
suggesting teachers shouldn't have representation.
18:15
Not at all. In fact, I'd argue the opposite. Teaching has become increasingly complex.
18:21
Teachers face growing demands inside and outside the classroom.
18:26
They navigate changing educational standards, increasing administrative requirements,
18:32
evolving technology, staffing shortages, disciplinary challenges,
18:35
parental expectations,
18:37
and political debates that seem to grow more intense every single year.
18:42
If any profession deserves strong representation, teaching certainly makes that list.
18:48
But representation and unions are not necessarily the same thing.
18:53
And that's where I think this conversation becomes interesting.
18:56
If West Virginia's teachers' unions cannot collectively bargain,
19:01
then perhaps we should stop pretending that's what they're designed to do.
19:06
Perhaps they should be viewed for what they actually are.
19:09
Advocacy organizations, professional associations, political organizations,
19:15
member service organizations, because when you strip away collective bargaining,
19:20
much of what remains falls into those categories.
19:24
Those organizations advocate for policy positions.
19:28
They monitor legislation. They endorse candidates. They provide professional resources.
19:33
They offer legal assistance and liability protections.
19:37
Those functions all have value.
19:40
The question is whether they provide the kind of value that many teachers believe
19:44
they're purchasing when they pay union dues.
19:47
And I'm not sure that's a conversation that happens often enough. Because words matter.
19:52
Definitions matter. Expectations matter.
19:55
If teachers believe they're joining an organization that is capable of negotiating
20:01
with school districts directly on their behalf, they're likely to expect one set of outcomes.
20:07
But if they're joining an advocacy organization whose primary influence comes
20:11
through lobbying and political pressure, they should probably expect something that's very different.
20:17
And when expectations don't align with reality, frustration is almost inevitable.
20:23
And maybe that's part of what we're seeing today. Not just frustration with education,
20:28
not just frustration with policymakers, but frustration with the institutions
20:34
that promise influence while operating within significant limitations.
20:39
And perhaps that's the central issue.
20:41
The unions may not be failing because their leaders are incompetent.
20:46
They may not be failing because their members are disengaged.
20:52
They may simply be operating within a system that prevents them from exercising
20:57
the very power that traditionally defines a union.
21:01
Which brings us back to the title of this episode, The Union Without Teeth.
21:07
Because teeth matter. A watchdog without teeth can still bark.
21:12
It can still warn. It can still attract attention. And it can still make people
21:16
aware that something is wrong.
21:19
But when the moment arrives to actually stop a threat, the absence of teeth,
21:24
becomes impossible to ignore.
21:27
And that's the question I've been wrestling with throughout this episode as
21:31
I've thought through it.
21:32
Not whether teachers deserve a voice, because they do. 100% they do.
21:37
Not whether teachers deserve representation, because again, they do.
21:42
The question is whether the organizations representing them possess the tools
21:47
that are necessary to turn advocacy into action.
21:51
And if they don't, perhaps the conversation West Virginia needs to have isn't
21:55
about strengthening the unions.
21:57
Perhaps it's about rethinking teacher representation altogether.
22:04
At the end of the day, I don't claim to have all the answers,
22:08
but I do think it's worth asking whether we've accepted a system that gives
22:13
teachers the appearance of representation without providing the primary tool
22:18
that makes representation effective.
22:20
Because if collective bargaining is what gives unions their leverage,
22:24
then removing collective bargaining fundamentally changes what a union can accomplish.
22:30
Maybe you're perfectly satisfied with the current system. Maybe you believe
22:34
the unions are doing the best they can with the tools that are available to them.
22:39
Or maybe you think it's time to have a larger conversation about what teacher
22:43
representation should look like in West Virginia.
22:47
Wherever you land on that question, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
22:50
And that's where you come in.
22:53
One of my favorite parts of doing this podcast is hearing from all of you.
22:58
Whether you agree with me, disagree with me, or think I've completely missed
23:01
a mark, Your feedback helps make these conversations better.
23:06
You can reach out through the contact form found at randyunscripted.com slash contact.
23:11
I read every message that comes in, and while I can't always respond to them
23:15
personally, I genuinely appreciate hearing from you, the listeners.
23:20
If you're a teacher, a retired educator, a school administrator,
23:24
or simply someone with a perspective on this topic, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
23:28
This is one of those issues where reasonable people can disagree,
23:32
and I suspect that there are viewpoints that I haven't considered.
23:36
As always, if your message contributes to a future episode, I will do my best
23:40
to give you a shout out right here on the show.
23:44
Now, if you enjoy Randy Unscripted and you would like to help support the show,
23:47
there's a few ways that you can do it.
23:49
The first is with your time. Share an episode with a friend. Post it on social media.
23:54
Recommend the show to someone who enjoys thoughtful conversations about challenging ideas.
24:01
The second is with your talent. If you have expertise, insights,
24:04
or experiences that can contribute to a future episode, I'd love to hear from you.
24:08
Some of the best ideas for this show can come directly from you, the listeners.
24:13
And the third is with your treasure. If you'd like to financially support the
24:17
podcast, you can find information about all the available options at randyunscripted.com support.
24:24
Whether it's a one-time contribution, a recurring donation, or a value-for-value
24:29
boost through a podcasting 2.0 app that supports it, every bit of support helps
24:33
keep the microphone on and the conversations going.
24:37
Most importantly, thank you for listening. There are a lot of podcasts competing
24:42
for your attention, and I am grateful that you've chosen to spend some time
24:46
right here with me on Randy Unscripted.
24:49
Until next time, keep asking questions, keep thinking for yourself,
24:54
and don't be afraid to challenge assumptions.
24:57
I'm Randy Black, and this has been Randy Unscripted.