June podcast: Mary Christian, President MEA-Retired
This month's featured interview is with Mary Christian, president of MEA-Retired. She recalls her days as a young teacher in the early 1960s and her experience as a local union leader before school employees had the legal right to collectively bargain decent wages and health insurance.
Déjà vu: Labor unrest reminds some of tumultuous past
by Karen Schulz
Editor, MEA Voice
Woodhaven-Brownstown teachers recently finished a second consecutive school year without a contract and the signs of distress are obvious.
Nearly 90 percent of the teachers in the Wayne County district voted to authorize their union bargaining team to take a vote to act if necessary to settle a contract. Read more.
Photo story: From begging to bargaining
What does collective bargaining have to do with what you’re doing in the classroom? Everything. Beginning this month, the MEA Voice and MEA Voice Online will feature periodic stories, podcasts, photo essays and more about collective bargaining. Our goal is to help members and others understand how bargaining benefits students, employees and society.
If you have a comment about collective bargaining, or a story idea for this occasional series, please share it.
Back-to-school bargaining coming down to the wire
Job actions possible in Wayne-Westland, Utica
Hundreds of Wayne-Westland teachers attended a meeting Monday for an update on bargaining.
Wayne-Westland teachers voted overwhelmingly Monday to delay the scheduled first day of school next week, a move prompted by big class sizes and manufactured budget deficits.
Wayne-Westland isn't the only district in a bargaining crisis. Teachers in Utica voted last week to authorize a job action if their contract isn't settled soon. Bargaining in many other districts remains difficult; nearly 30 local associations are on MEA's "Critical List," a designation that means bargaining is protracted and unproductive. Read more about the situations in Wayne-Westland and Utica.
Check out the MEA Press Room for the latest bargaining news
Updated: July 2, 2009 2:03 PM
Harvey Miller, MEA-Retired member and former bargainer
VIDEO: MEA-Retired board member and retired teacher Harvey Miller speaks at the MEA-Retired annual meeting on the importance of bargaining.