Dear President Brown, other OEA leaders and members,

We are writing out of concern that not all members who have faced District retaliation lately are being fairly represented and that this failure is part of a pattern of actions—and inaction—that prioritize OEA collaboration with OUSD while ignoring Rep Council decisions to fight for members.  We believe that this pattern is extremely detrimental to OEA’s strength and ability to achieve our goals, especially while we are bargaining a new contract.

Therefore we call on OEA leadership to (1) file an Unfair Labor Practice charge for the District’s refusal to respond to a union information request related to its discriminatory actions against Denise Huffstutler, and (2) respect and implement the decisions made by OEA’s policy-making body, Rep Council, to fight for our members and values, rather than rely on labor-management collaboration.

Fight ALL Retaliation: File a ULP for Denise Huffstutler 

Though we are glad that CTA/OEA has filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge over OUSD’s retaliatory termination of substitute teacher Craig Gordon, it has so far failed to file any charges for others experiencing reprisals so far, including Denise Huffstutler.  (Requests to support another substitute teacher fired for union activity, June Nelson, went unanswered for months, but recent developments in her case are encouraging.) While OEA/CTA is not legallyrequired to file ULPs for members, there are instances in which failure to take legal action raises troubling questions, especially given the extreme degree to which OUSD disregards contractual and legal constraints with impunity. 

At a December 6^th meeting with Craig and his reps, Nick Palmquist and Judy Greenspan, and Grievance Committee Co-Chair Dennis Nelson, CTA staffer/OEA Co-Executive Director John Green said he would  file a ULP charge over OUSD’s refusal to respond to a union information request related to its unlawful retaliation against Denise Huffstutler. But John now says he won’t do it after all, citing a personal issue with Denise’s rep.  John’s allegations appear to be unfounded, but this is beside the point. We do not see how a CTA staffer who is paid more than twice what most OEA members make to support us is entitled to refuse to defend a dues-paying member who has done nothing objectionable.

Craig emailed his concern to John after John informed him that he had decided not to file a ULP for Denise. Receiving no response, Craig followed up a few days later with a text asking John to let him know whether he would reconsider his refusal to file the ULP “to resolve this without making this a big political fight.” Again, he received no response.

We also would rather not have to engage in a political fight to ensure union support for Denise, and we certainly don’t want to make it “personal.” But it seems that one individual is making important decisions on whether members get CTA support (CTA receives nearly 2/3 of dues dollars paid by OEA members) based on very personal issues or political preferences.  Because John has not responded to these appeals, we see no other course than to involve OEA’s president, other union leaders and members.

This unilateral decision to not file a ULP to hold OUSD accountable to its legal responsibility to respond to a union information request violates two Rep Council votes this school year to take any and all actions, including filing ULPs, to fight OUSD retaliation. Nobody has claimed that this particular ULP charge would be weak: The District’s refusal to respond to an information request is an unambiguous violation of educational labor law and the union’s essential rights. Failing to file this ULP undermines the defense of an individual member’s rights and OEA’s power.

When We FIGHT, We Win 

John’s refusal to take on the District’s blatant and illegal violation of OEA’s right to information is part of a pattern going back at least two years, and it may reflect a political preference by OEA/CTA officials to avoid confrontation with the district in order to preserve a “collaborative” relationship.  

For example:

• John refused to handle an arbitration that the Substitute Caucus unanimously voted to initiate in January 2021 to address the District’s failure to place substitute teachers in special distance learning support assignments, leaving substitutes unemployed and many students unsupported.   Craig and Brian Crowell took on that job normally done by CTA staff and won a large arbitration award (up to about $900,000) mandating back pay for substitute teachers and the continuation of special substitute assignments to provide individual and small-group student support (in person or online).
• After the district sabotaged implementation of the arbitration award through illegal document switching and ex parte communication with the arbitrator, John and you (President Brown) confidentially negotiated a deal that allowed the district to pay a tiny fraction of what the arbitration award was worth in return for increased substitute pay. But many other districts increased substitute pay at that time, without such inducements, to address a massive shortage of substitute teachers.
• After Rep Council voted to reject that agreement dumping the arbitration award and to ask for CTA legal support to implement the award, John barred the arbitration advocates (Brian and Craig) from communicating with the CTA attorney evaluating the award and then failed to provide her with essential documents she needed to make a fair assessment. Rep Council then voted in April 2022 to retain an independent attorney, Richard Tan, to pursue implementation of the arbitration award.  Unfortunately, President Brown, nine months after Rep Council’s decision, you continue to ignore Richards’s requests to sign the retainer to allow him to even begin the research necessary to determine whether OEA still has a good case. 
• Before OEA/CTA filed a ULP on Craig’s unlawful termination, John attempted to condition that action on Craig signing an agreement waiving any say over the content of an eventual settlement with the district. When Craig told John that this unprecedented requirement appeared to be discriminatory and unfriendly treatment by his union, John replied, “We’re way past having a friendly relationship between the two of us,” alluding to the conflict over John’s refusal to handle the substitute teacher arbitration in 2021. As with the recent refusal to file a ULP for Denise, the suggestion that OEA/CTA officials have a right to withhold support from members or impose special conditions on it, based on personal feelings, is unacceptable. 

We are raising all of the issues above because we care deeply about our union and recognize that we must undergo fundamental changes to become a more functional and stronger force to serve our members, students and community. So we will reiterate and elaborate on the call at the beginning of this letter with recommendations that we believe will be supported by all concerned rank and file:

1. We must drastically improve our defense of members under attack by administrators, especially attacks against those who have stood up for the union and fellow workers. Until we do this, we cannot fight effectively for our students and for quality public education. For an example, we can  look at the  struggle led by MetWest reps and members last year against bully administrators, with mutual aid from two other reps.  In response to admin’s egregious verbal abuse, arbitrary discipline and even physical assault, MetWest teachers filed numerous grievances, organized and mobilized colleagues, parents and students to protest at the site and at school board meetings. And they won!  The District was forced to rescind the non-reelection of three probationary teachers and letters of reprimand/concern given to six teachers. We suggest that OEA leadership use its considerable platform and communications resources to tell that story in order to educate and inspire all members who want to effectively defend their rights and each other. 
2. We must hold OEA/CTA officials accountable to implement decisions taken by OEA members and their elected representatives. Under the bylaws, Rep Council is OEA’s policy-making body with authority to make decisions like those described above.  But currently, members have no clear recourse when our full-time release officers and CTA staff choose to ignore those decisions.  We are calling on our leadership to hold itself accountable to OEA’s democratically mandated bylaws.

We welcome constructive dialogue with our fellow members as we work together to build and insist on  the fighting union that we– and our students– deserve!    

In solidarity,

Rank and File Caucus

Response from OEA Member:

**I share the sentiments and facts echoed and articulated by OEA member Craig Gordon. The major theme is that OEA leadership in particular Keith Brown and BOP has been unwilling or unable to mobilize our numerosity to deal with the issues of district abuse.

As a matter of fact. Keith Brown himself has received 4 bullying letters from District General Counsel Josh Daniels all with the intent to intimidate the union and interfere with our ability to represent members. As you see here: https://www.postnewsgroup.com/teachers-and-school-district-dispute-union-rights/

I publicly defended Keith Brown and OEA. Rather than make District Staff a political and organizing issue, OEA leadership has opted to “collaborate with them.” This posture has only made the district more hostile and as result more hostile at the bargaining table. We have a district staff who is ideologically hostile to teachers and teachers unions. This ideology has resulted in bloated admin salaries, an attack on black and veteran teachers, teachers referred to PAR and arbitrary non-reelects. In addition non functional faculty councils etc.

When the bully is not held accountable then the bully becomes worse. For example Jenine Lindsey is allowed to falsify documents in a legal proceeding (arbitration), advocate for   illegal secret documents to be used against teachers, and yet has magically maintained job security. (Yes I kept those documents and others).

Now we get to John Green. Here is an article written by John Green in 2009. The title ironically is “Why isn’t our union fighting.”

https://socialistworker.org/2009/10/30/why-isnt-our-union-fighting

John Green states “To be blunt, the CTA that we need is nowhere to be found. Instead, the CTA that we have has tried to cut deals with politicians in the state capital of Sacramento, and pay lip service to organizing where it counts.”
Sadly to say, the John Green of 2009 is long gone. Now, he is replaced by the “let’s make a deal” bureaucrat hiding behind socialist and left leaning verbiage. I must say, I am quite insulted that John Green would suggest that I “cursed him out” when arguing how to advocate for an OEA member. Visions of “scary black men” and racism come to mind, this is not how a union needs to function. Those who know me know full well I have a mastery of the king’s english particularly in professional settings.
Myself no longer being on the grievance committee has been a blessing in disguise. Teachers needing representation is abundant. This shows me that OEA has been lost in the wilderness since the strike of 2019 ended. This is a tragic state of affairs indeed.

Sincerely,

Brian Crowell

OEA