Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1527898
" T H E U N I O N I S N O T o n e p e r s o n , i t 's a l l of u s c o m i n g t o ge th e r t o m e e t w ith m a n a ge m e n t a n d f i n d a s o lu ti o n togeth er," say s Amy Ki l burn , pre si d ent of A ss o ci ation of Clovis Educators (ACE). " We try very hard to empower oth- ers to do the work and be a part of the change. We have power when we come together." In Clovis, where classroom educators con- t i n u e t o o rg a n i z e t o w i n a u n i o n , Ki l b u r n says the danger of "third-partying " the union i s real and e ver -present. Third-partying th e union refers to the act of portraying the union as a separate, external entity, rather than an organization composed of the workers it rep- resents. This concept often arises during labor di sput es w h en employers att empt to depict unions as outside forces that are disconnected from the members' interests. is tactic can undermine the solidarity and effectiveness of the union, and it is important to understand why and how to avoid this pitfall. "e damage of 'othering' a union is alive and well in our dis- trict. People will still say 'the CTA' or 'the union' and not know what it means," says Kilburn. " Who taught us that message? Management taught us to keep us apart. is is a tool to keep Labor from realizing we have the power to impact our communities." e othering of the union can impact a local even when it's not being weaponized by a school district, weakening our connections to each other and hampering us from achieving our collective goals — not only for ourselves but for our stu- dents and communities. As union educators, we need to shout out the power of us whenever pos- sible to remind each other what's possible when we work together. "It's important to show we believe in more than ourselves. e power of helping somebody else and them helping you as a solid group — you can't put words to that," says Frank Mata, high school English teacher and Corona Norco Teachers Association Understanding and committing to 'the power of us' is critical to win our collective goals By Julian Peeples We Are the Union 35 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 24 Amy Kilburn Feature