Torrance School Board Election – SEIU Local 99 Questionnaire

I filed to run for TUSD School Board yesterday.  Today I received the following questionnaire from SEIU Local 99, which is an education workers union claiming to represent nearly 300 workers at TUSD.  I need to complete the questionnaire by August 14th to be considered for their endorsement.  How should I respond?

1. Briefly describe your top three priorities and the policy areas that will be of most interest to you as a member of the Board.

2. What public administration or leadership experience do you have?  Please explain the programs you have developed and implemented for the benefit of the public.

3. What do you think are the three largest challenges facing your District today?

4. How will you effectively represent the District and its workers?

5. How would you ensure that less affluent neighborhoods in the district receive the same attention as more affluent areas?

6. What is your position on Charter Schools?

PUBLIC SECTOR

7. Do you support a $15 minimum wage and access to healthcare for all employees?

8. Under what circumstances, if any, do you favor privatizing existing District services?

9. What rights and benefits do you believe the District should afford its part-time and temporary employees?

10. Do you support the right of part-time and temporary (extra help) workers employed by the district to unionize and to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions?

11. Name your top three budget priorities.

12. How do you propose increasing revenue in order to support improved educational services/outcomes?

PROPERTY SERVICES

13. Would you ensure that all buildings owned by the district and leased to private entities use unionized janitors and security officers?

14. Will you ensure that only responsible contractors are used for services overseen by the district?  If so, please define what you would consider to be a reasonable contractor.

15. Do you support having Project Labor Agreements (PLA) for all District facilities construction?

OTHER ISSUES

16. School employees, including cafeteria workers, special education assistants, bus drivers and public safety officers make sure children learn in a clean, safe, supportive environment. However, with an average salary of $15,000 a year, school employees struggle to support their families in the summer months. School employees are the only workers expressly prohibited from collecting unemployment in the summer months despite the fact that the school employees unemployment fund currently has a multi-million dollar surplus. Would you support legislation to allow classified workers to collect unemployment in the summer months?  And, if so, what would you do to help support summer unemployment insurance for classified employees?

17. Currently, classified employees do not have a say in whether or not their school is a Charter school. Would you support legislation that would allow classified workers to be included as part of the petition process to establish charter schools? And, if so, what would you do to help make this law pass?

18. More families are connected to schools than any other institution in the community, making them a natural access point for services.  How would you increase the provision of  health/mental health services, workforce development, and after school programs on school campuses? What role can classified employees play in expanding access to these services? How would you leverage additional resources from City and County agencies?

ORGANIZING AND WORKERS RIGHTS

19. How would you be supportive of charter school employees wanting to form a union?

20. How would you ensure that Charter Management Organizations do not intimidate workers and remain neutral if and when school employees decide to form a union?

21. Do you support collective bargaining rights for Head Start employees and in-home child care providers? And if so, what would you to ensure that all workers have the rights to collectively bargain.

22. Do you consider increasing the number of fulltime workers in the District a priority? If yes, what would you do to ensure this is a budgetary priority?

23. Which of the following actions would you take to support workers engaged in union activity such as bargaining and organizing?

YES                       NO

____                      ____    Walk picket lines

____                      ____    Mediate with employers

____                      ____    Write letters of support

____                      ____    Fight for proper enforcement of current labor law

____                      ____    Hold a press conference

____                      ____    Speak at rallies

____                      ____    Reach out to stakeholders

____                      ____    Hold a legislative hearing

____                      ____    Sponsor legislation

Would you cross a picket line?

WORKING WITH THE UNION

24. If elected, which of the following will you commit to for the purpose of building a strong working relationship with SEIU?

YES                 NO

____                ____    Call for and welcome SEIU input on relevant policy matters

____                ____    Attend SEIU leadership and worksite meetings

____                ____    Work with SEIU to develop district policy proposals

____                ____    Ensure direct access to you and your staff

____                ____    Work to appoint qualified union members to appropriate committees

INITIATIVES/CIVIL RIGHTS

25. Do you support Comprehensive Immigration Reform with a pathway to citizenship? And if so, how will you use your elected office to ensure that this becomes law?

26. Is there anything else you believe is important for the members of SEIU to know about you and your campaign as they continue the process of evaluating the candidates and deciding who to support for the Board?

CANDIDATE PLEDGE – SUPPORTING THE RIGHT OF WORKERS TO CHOOSE A UNION

Section 923 of California’s Labor Code states it is the public policy of this state that ”It is necessary that the individual workman have full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of his own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of his employment, and that he shall be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives….”

Employers have the power to fire, promote, change work assignments and other wise reward and punish their workers.  There are many responsible employers who respect the rights of their workers and obey the law.  Unfortunately, many employers abuse their power in the workplace to deny their workers the right to freely choose a voice on the job by joining a union and bargaining contracts determining the terms and conditions of their employment.

Each year workers seeking to organize a union in their workplace are fired although the law says this is illegal.  After years of litigation, employers are required to rehire these workers and pay back wages minus any income the worker earned after being fired.  Employers pay no other penalty.  Workers receive no compensation for the harm done to their lives and careers.  And unions receive no compensation for the impact of such illegal activities on their organizing drives.

Even after workers overcome employer interference and vote for a union many employers then refuse to bargain a contract in good faith.

SEIU asks you as a candidate and elected official to exert moral leadership and to actively support public policies that protect the right of workers to freely choose a voice on the job by participating in a union and to bargaining with their employers.

As a candidate and elected official I hereby pledge:

1.	To publicly support and actively encourage workers who are organizing a union with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
2.	To publicly support and actively encourage the position that workers should be able to freely choose for themselves whether they want to gain a voice on the job by unionizing without the intimidating effects of any employer interference.  This includes publicly supporting and encouraging employers to remain neutral on the question of unionization.
3.	To publicly support and actively encourage the position that no taxpayer money should be spent interfering with the right of workers to freely choose a union.
4.	To publicly support and actively encourage a fair and fast process for determining worker support for unionization including secret ballot election or card check recognition.
5.	To publicly support and actively encourage employers to negotiate an agreement with the union within 90 days after the majority of workers express their choice in favor of forming a union.
6.	To publicly support and actively encourage employers to negotiate good faith collective bargaining agreements with their workers and to abide by the terms of those agreements.

Signature: ___________________________Date: _________

 

Print Name:  ____________________________________________________________