A Voice for the Voiceless

Silenced But Never Silent

This week we are sharing the story of an outspoken member of the EAA. When we reached out to this member they had concerns about backlash and retaliation, so we decided to change the member’s name and certain details of their story to preserve their anonymity. We support their decision, and from now on, we will refer to this member as Rebecca.

When Rebecca decided to move to the area, she was excited to be part of a school system with a union. She thought that being part of a union would support her and empower her within the school district. She arrived believing EAA would strengthen her connection to the school system, her fellow educators, and students, while giving her the agency to address her needs with ACPS. She expected that being a part of EAA would make her life easier and her job more enjoyable. To her dismay, this could not have been further from the truth.

Early on, Rebecca wanted to get involved. This proved to be difficult information to obtain, as no one seemed to know when meetings were scheduled and the calendar online was not being updated. So she reached out, but email responses and updates were even harder to resolve. It took months for her to track anyone down to inquire why she wasn’t getting email reminders, despite being on the mailing list. Then, when a critical issue arose between Rebecca and HR, she naturally went to EAA to ask for support and help through the process of recertifying paperwork. She once again struggled to receive a response and eventually was told she was on her own. The only reason her issue was resolved was because she had a preexisting relationship with someone in her department who stepped in when the EAA would not. This was, tragically, only the beginning of her issues with the EAA.

Far Too Little, Far Too Late

Currently, everyone is feeling the squeeze of the state of the economy. Teachers know this better than most, and sadly, Rebecca can attest that educators in Alexandria, in particular, feel it viciously. Sadly, a close friend and coworker of hers had to make the heartbreaking decision to leave ACPS and find proper compensation in a neighboring district. At first, Rebecca wanted to help and reach out to EAA for support and options, but their building, like three others in the district, has no representative. They got no answers, and navigating the situation alone meant her friend’s departure was all but guaranteed. This decision became an inevitability. If educators cannot afford to live in Alexandria, they cannot be expected to bear the financial burden with no support as costs continue to rise.

Though this decision was a difficult one, the reality of the costs of staying paired with the benefits of leaving unfortunately made it easy for Rebecca’s friend to come to her decision. This year, her friend’s rent went up again. All of her expenses rose but her paycheck has not kept up with inflation. Leaving ACPS meant an automatic pay increase of six thousand dollars, guaranteed access to healthcare providers, and easily accessible bereavement leave. While other districts are prioritizing compensation and healthcare, the same cannot be said for ACPS. Rebecca said she feels EAA has facilitated this failure, as all of these issues have been persistent. Many times she brought them up to be included in the prospective CBA, but never got any answers or details on whether these requests would be honored.

This week, she received word that EAA leadership triumphantly announced their tentative collective bargaining agreement, when her disbelief turned to anger. She had repeatedly requested information about the negotiations while they were taking place, but could not get through to EAA. Only when she emailed someone directly through their ACPS email did she get a response. Even then, she was told the negotiations were confidential, making her feel like her feedback and specific requests for what could make her and her coworkers' lives easier as educators are unwanted and disregarded. The agreement has been made, and EAA members rarely, if ever, received answers to their questions or updates on the agreement before the agreement was finalized. Educators who did not realize a deal was being made were pleasantly surprised they were getting anything at all. But not Rebecca, because she has been trying to follow the CBA process; she understood how many promises were broken and forgotten over the years as negotiations went on.

Members Deserve Better

All of these issues that are priorities for Rebecca should be priorities for EAA. Unions were created to strive for better working conditions and livable wages for their members. Rebecca has been asking how can these things be important to EAA if they are not reflected in their collective bargaining agreement? She said explicitly that if EAA had not engaged in collective bargaining, she suspects the school board would have provided the step increases and cost-of-living adjustment anyway, since they are provided yearly to keep ACPS compensation competitive with neighboring school districts. EAA leadership has admitted they are aware that healthcare offsets will negate any pay increase, so why did they not fight against this in their negotiations? At this point, Rebecca expressed to us that she feels like she is no better off than states that do not allow teachers unions to collectively bargain. Her voice is not heard; it is stifled.

Throughout our conversation, she expressed frustration with EAA leadership and their disregard for members and their attitude toward them. A union has to provide for its members, but EAA leadership has had no interest in doing so for ACPS educators, and that is clear in the deal they struck with the CBA. Lacking in substance, it reflects what EAA leadership thinks that members deserve. A bare minimum that keeps educators falling further and further behind.

Rebecca has tried to bring attention to the issues she and her fellow educators have been facing. Only to be met with a resounding silence. Rebecca hopes this trend can change soon; as she says goodbye to her friend, they agree that when you have to leave a place, it should be better than when you arrived. Sadly, this is not the case for them now. But it could be. Rebecca stressed that just because we are in negotiations does not mean they are effective or good for members. That has to come from leadership. A collective bargaining agreement that does not reflect the collective was doomed to leave educators unfulfilled, and effectively abandoned. And that is exactly what members are getting from EAA. We asked what Rebecca would want out of her ideal union, and she said:

“A union that when we ask for help we get it, and we are not chastised for questions. I want to be able to see budgets and books without any hassle when requested. If I have criticisms they are heard and addressed, not ignored so the problems just get worse. I don't want to have to go to VEA just to get answers, if we have a collective bargaining agreement I want it to be worth it to me and address my ongoing concerns. I just want a union that fights for me and makes it clear they care about me. I don’t want us to blindly follow a leader because they have been here for however many years. That’s great people like them, but this isn’t about them, I want someone who is going to do the job and make it worth it to me to be part of a union. I want a leader to stand up for us and it doesn’t matter who that is, just that they do their job.”

We want the same thing. Members should feel heard and should never have to suffer for a bad deal. If leadership refuses to do the tough thing and fight for the promises made and the policies that will make educators thrive, then ACPS will continue to suffer the consequences. We applaud Rebecca for standing up and sharing her story. We hope we can be the change she has been asking for.

Let’s fight together.