Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/619098
AARON HALL THIRD-GRADE TEACHER United Educators of San Francisco '' '' WHO IS SPEAKING UP FOR WORKING FAMILIES? Hundreds of legal and educational scholars; civil rights organizations; public employee unions; educators and school districts; cities, counties and states; and elected officials and lawmakers have filed amicus briefs in support of CTA and NEA. Here are some excerpts: CIVIL RIGHTS ORGs EDUCATORS & SCHOOL DISTRICTS FEDERAL & STATE GOVTs LEGAL SCHOLARS & UNIONS Making sure that everyone has access to the American Dream and a fair shot at the middle class is essential to this country's future. … The U.S. Supreme Court should reject this attempt by wealthy special interests in the Friedrichs case to make it even harder for working people to come together, speak up for one another, and get ahead. It is a basic concept of fairness that even a third-grader can understand. Overturning Abood "would undermine one of the most successful vehicles for providing economic and professional opportunities for American workers, and, in particular, for women, people of color, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers. ... Unions have provided a critical path to the middle class for generations of working people, including the nurses, rst responders, teachers, and others who comprise the membership of public sector unions." — National Women's Law Center, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Human Rights Campaign, and 70 additional organizations committed to civil rights "[We] have gone into the relatively low-paying profession of public education out of love for our country's children. [We believe] that public education is the bedrock of what has made, and what will continue to make, the United States of America a great nation. ... Without the ability to e-ectively engage in collective bargaining, individual teachers will be left voiceless in protecting their livelihoods, the learning environments of their students, and the future of public education." — 16 individual teachers School districts secure more e-ective collective bargaining relationships with unions that have "the stability to make di€cult agreements that may be unpopular but are in the long-term interests of employees, students and the entire community." — 14 school districts "Petitioners' attempt to demolish this Court's settled framework for analyzing conditions of public employment [under the First Amendment] would astonish the founding generation and would stamp out the state-by-state variation in public-employment structures that has been the hallmark of this Court's First Amendment jurisprudence for decades." — United States government "States have a signicant and valid interest in being able to employ the models of collective bargaining that have proved successful for achieving labor peace and avoiding ... strikes," and for improving the e€ciency and quality of public services. — 21 states and the District of Columbia "Collective bargaining has proven benets for public employers. ... [It] is linked to a host of related workplace benets, including reduced employee turnover, increased job satisfac- tion, and improved worker productivity. ‰ese benets run to both employers and employees." —48 Labor and Employment Law Professors 39 December 2015 / January 2016