Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1515721
had no voice as school management decided what instruction would look like during a worldwide pandemic. e fight for each other and their students galvanized educators, who organized and formed South Bay Educators United (SBEU), the first teach- ers' union in the country to organize during the pandemic. SBEU President Nina Rodriguez says after the initial challenge of collecting cards and filing for union recognition during shel- ter-in-place orders, the first bargain was uncharted waters for educators and charter school management, who not only had to negotiate a contract but learn how to do so, together. "We had to figure out ground rules and other things," she says. "It took us more than one academic year to finalize — we were all learning together." When the ink dried on their first contract, SBEU members had won major victories in securing working hours and workload rights, as well as transparency in the school's operations — one of the main factors driving educators to unionize initially. Rodri- guez says the rights they won set much-needed boundaries for SBEU educators and is helping create a structure for the whole school network. "Management knows what asks they can make of their teachers," Rodriguez says. "is has created the biggest shift for educators, students and systemwide." Members of Palmdale Aerospace Teachers Association (PATA) are in the 16th month of their first contract bargain, currently organizing to get charter management to take negotiations seriously. Lead site representative Daniel Lagomarsino says managers are doing everything they can to delay negotiations, dragging their feet on sharing financial information, copying and pasting articles from other school contracts South Bay Educators United formed during the pandemic, holding their organizing meetings virtually. Organizing Pro Tip "Try not to be isolated. Have intentional touch points with other unions locally and around the state." —Nina Rodriguez, South Bay Educators United Continued on Page 25 23 F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 24