While preparing for their first contract negotiation since 2019, members of the Ithaca Teachers Association decided it was time to take a risk.
“There was a push within our internal union structure for more transparency, a more democratic process, more involvement from rank-and-file members and just more action,” said ITA President Kathryn Cernera.
A lot had changed since their previous agreement was ratified: a global pandemic transformed the future of education; Cernera took over as president; and tension between the community and school district reached a boiling point as voters came out in droves to reject last year’s budget, raising concerns over lack of communication, accountability and fiscal responsibility.
And so, at Cernera’s first all-member meeting as president in August 2023, ITA voted to prioritize their “Build a Better Contract” campaign, which prioritizes increasing member engagement and democratic decision making.
“That set us on course for a transformational bargaining experience,” Cernera said. “We elected about 25 contract stewards from every specialty area of our contract to start hosting small group and one-on-one meetings among their colleagues. So, the social worker got a list of all the other social workers in the district and started having those conversations asking, ‘what does a contract that supports and sustains that group need to include?’ And the librarians did that, and the music teachers, and the special ed teachers and so on.”
Through this method, Cernera says the contract stewards were able to engage more than half of ITA’s membership in just six months. From those conversations, Cernera says her negotiating team built a priority survey that 450 members participated in.
“We then turned those priorities into 65 proposals and every single one of our members had the opportunity to vote on whether or not these were impasse-worthy issues,” Cernera explained. “Ultimately we ended up bringing 57 proposals to the bargaining table.”
ITA also held monthly all-member meetings to discuss their progress and next steps.
“Before Kathryn was president, we rarely had all-member meetings, maybe like once a year,” said ITA Secretary and lead organizer Aurora Rojer. “That ability to be heard and to have an actual voice in the process is just so different than what people have been used to.”
Negotiations are now well underway, and Cernera is continuing to lead with transparency through open bargaining sessions that are publicly viewable. Meetings are held in an auditorium and all district employees and Board members are welcome to attend. They are also livestreamed and can be viewed on the district’s YouTube channel.
“These don’t have to be smoke-filled, back-room meetings,” explained Cernera. “Through our conversations with members, we learned that they don’t want to learn the details of their new contract at the ratification vote. We need to be engaging and informing members every step of the way.”
Rojer added, “It feels very out in the open in the way that it should be, because this is a community issue, not just an educator issue. This open style is working, and people are excited about it.”
As secretary, Rojer began sending text updates to the membership in addition to weekly emails to reach more people.
“Our members can respond, and I can actually write back, and I always get people saying, ‘thank you so much [for the update], this is amazing!’”
Rojer and Cernera say the inspiration for attempting this open bargaining style stems from a few sources including the Chicago Teachers Union; labor organizer and author Jane McAlevey; and hearing from Massachusetts educators at the 2024 Labor Notes Conference.
Cernera also credits her NYSUT Labor Relations Specialist Tammy Romania for unwavering support in what is a largely unprecedented tactic in New York state.
“It was a huge risk for her, and I know it made her nervous when we first started talking about it,” Cernera recalled. “But she told us ‘I work for you, so if we’re doing this, we’re doing it together.’ And she did all her research and homework and went above and beyond with my team to find out how we could do this and do it well. She really trusted us on this.”
Romania admits, “That style of bargaining is not something I have ever done before.”
But she says, “knowing Kathryn and her team, it was easy to jump on board. The team is committed to breaking down undemocratic structures and replacing them with worker-focused systems that truly allow every member a voice. … Many hands and heads have helped us, and I would not be able to do this without my colleagues in NYSUT’s Elmira office, Mike Johnson, Matt Hill and Deb Lloyd-Priest, as well as Tim Miller from NYSUT’s Research and Educational Services department. They have put their full support behind me, and I am grateful for the collective knowledge they freely share. It truly is a team effort!”
As negotiations carry on, ITA continues to post regular updates on their social media channels and members are wearing blue on Thursdays to show their solidarity.
“It really feels that we now exist as a union in a way that we never have before,” said Rojer. “A lot of people used to feel like the union was something that they fundamentally had no role in and didn’t really serve them personally. Our goal was to get them to know they are all part of this, we are all fighting together, and we’ve made some really great strides that I’m really proud of.”
Cernera added, “Our members who have been here for decades are coming up to me after meetings and saying, ‘I finally feel like I’m a part of something and that we’re doing something.’ I get emails daily from veteran members saying I’ve never felt so heard and so cared for. Newer members are asking building reps, ‘how do I do more and be more involved? This is amazing!’ We can feel that we’re doing something different and powerful, and I really believe so much in the power of organized labor the notion that when we fight together, we win.”