PDAT WORKERS of AMERICA, LOCAL 6186E / AFL-CIO November 2020
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TEXAS STATE EMPLOYEES UNION VOL. 39 / NO. 3 UCOMMUNICATIONSPDAT WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 6186E / AFL-CIO November 2020 www.cwa-tseu.org A MESSAGE FROM WE BEAT THIS CRISIS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER: TSEU PRESIDENT JUDY LUGO: WE ORGANIZE! What we mean when we say “ORGANIZED” n my many years as a state employee, I’ve • ORGANIZED MEANS a strong majority of the employees are members seen a lot of things, but nothing like we of an organization that is their collective voice. It means that the organization are experiencing with fighting through has strength through membership to influence decision-making at every level. ICOVID-19. We still get reports of infections • ORGANIZED MEANS TSEU has the power in the state Capitol to push to our lowest paid Union Sisters and Brothers, through adequate funding for quality services, fair pay for state workers and and when we file requests for agency infection retirees, a secure retirement, affordable health care, and measures to keep numbers; the State claims they are not tracking workers safe on the job. this information. We have Universities reopening • ORGANIZED MEANS TSEU has the power in state agencies and univer- knowing infection rates in counties are increasing. sities to give frontline workers a real voice in policy issues and to assure fair We have a Governor who refused to act until this treatment on the job. epidemic was already out of control and state lead- • ORGANIZED MEANS more employees are taking part in building ership whose solution to this COVID seems to be solutions to problems than standing on the sidelines waiting to see what cutting the funding of frontline state workers. Our happens, not the other way around. fights are real, and the time has never been greater • ORGANIZED MEANS TSEU becomes THE voice of state employees and for us to strengthen ourselves and organize against retirees in Texas. these attacks. As state workers and retirees, we deserve a decent Why we are organizing standard of living and fair pay, we deserve af- The obvious problems in state agencies and universities are many and im- fordable health care, we deserve a secure retire- mense: budget cuts, privatization, low pay, unaffordable health care, to name ment, we deserve justice on the job! These are not a few. These issues will only be magnified by the continued response to the impossible to achieve. The belief that we can work COVID-19 health crisis. Every year we find ourselves fighting all-out defen- together, and win is what unites us. Our Political sive battles on these core issues. We will never catch up if we keep fighting de- program states: We will be part of a movement to fensive battles. We need the power to change the landscape. Our real #1 issue take back Texas for the working men and women is that our agencies and universities are not organized. We need the power who create the wealth of our state, for the children of a majority presence in our agencies and universities to win the victories we who are our future, for the elders who worked for need and deserve. what we have, for the Texans with disabilities who We need to change the way Texas handles state services and the way it treats should share fully in our society. the workers who provide them. Decades of downsizing and privatization have to be replaced by full funding. State leaders need to make quality services and state As we head into these next few months, we know workers their top priority. The decision-mak- we face some major challenges, but we also have ers (legislators, agency and university heads, major opportunities: We have a real etc.) will not make this change until they have Where we stand: shot at flipping the Texas House. to. TSEU can play a major role in changing Over 87% of TSEU mem- the political landscape of Texas when we truly bers work in 15 agencies We also have commitments and universities. Our level from both sides of the aisle to become THE voice of state workers. of organization in these file legislation on: pay raises, We must look at organizing in a new way. institutions ranges from 28% restoration of our grievance We must look past minority presence and in Parole to 18% in HHSC, procedure, fully funding our slow increases in our workplaces to the day TJJD, and SSLC’s to less than 5% in some institutions. pension, letting retirees when we are the majority! We can, and do, win when minorities of workers are orga- We have the greatest abili- serve on the ERS nized, but we need the power of a majority ty to affect policy and solve Board. However this presence to turn things around. We don’t have problems in the agencies and universities that are only happens if to slowly tackle each problem that comes our we step up and the most organized. As the way. We can take on the core problem: that we TSEU voice becomes THE put in work to work in an unorganized workplace. We can voice of state employees grow and elect solve the problem by getting our coworkers and retirees, the TSEU voice pro-union and fellow retirees to join TSEU. carries more authority. legislators. 1 | TSEU UPDATE School f/t Blind members express concerns over COVID protocols nion members at The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) Uin Austin have been organizing, being concerned about the unique nature of their school and how the Coronavirus may hinder their work. TSBVI Administration has gone to great lengths to insure the safety of the campus population. Even so, the unique nature of TSBVI and the school population (many students travel a great distance from all across Our ability to organize co-workers face-to-face has been severely limited in the age of COVID-19. Despite the obvious hurdles of maintaining social distancing, our work in the field will continue Texas to live full-time on campus) makes even as we expand our online outreach via social media channels and other outlets. TSEU activ- in-person instruction potentially a far greater ists and organizers are committed to maintaining the health and safety of all state workers and risk to the health and safety of their students will abide by all recommended practices while in public or on state facilities. If you have been and staff. It is almost impossible for teachers itching to get out and help build your union, contact your nearest TSEU organizer or office today! and instructors not to touch or not be in close contact with students with visual disabilities. Since August, TSEU members have been UTEP Union members mobilize to reverse researching varying approaches from schools for the visually impaired in other states and discriminatory ADA parking policies countries, meeting once a week to discuss SEU activists and UTEP professors Dr. Selfa Chew and Dr. Aurelia Lorena strategies, timelines, define allies, discuss next Murga have been instrumental in building support for the initiative. The TSEU steps, and debrief their efforts. TUTEP ADA Parking Organizing Committee meets every other week via Zoom Members used a petition (link here) to to coordinate the pressure campaign. As of now, an online petition drafted by the gauge the concerns of the campus, leading to OC has reached nearly 2000 signatures through coordinated outreach to student a Town Hall with TSBVI Administration to groups, professors, and local disability justice activists. Campaigning on social air the concerns of members and non-mem- media, particularly Twitter and Facebook, has built broad campus and community bers. This event was attended by 170 people. support for the mobilization. The petition has already attracted the attention of Realizing the need to air their concerns with local media, including KTSM and El Diario De El Paso, and OC members are con- the Texas Education Agency, on September tinuing media outreach. In addition, TSEU members are working with the UTEP 24th Union members met with Mr. Matt Faculty Senate, Student Government Association, Graduate Student Assembly, Staff Montano, Deputy Director of Special Pro- Council, and Parking and Transportation Office to extend free ADA permits to all grams for the TEA. Mr. Montano learned of disabled students and employees. the unique experiences working with the vi- Currently, staff members pay upwards of $525 to access ADA parking on sually impaired. On October 28th TSEU mem- campus for one academic year. Students pay upwards of $250 per academic year. bers will meet once again with Mr. Montano These prices are significantly higher than at any other UT system institution despite to give and receive progress reports on their El Paso’s lower cost of living. Disabled community members are often unable to work to safely teach the students at TSBVI. find parking in the inner campus and are forced to walk—or wheel—up steep hills simply to access their own classroom or workplace. Disabled veterans at UTEP currently access ADA parking free of charge. So far, university administrators have maintained that parking permits are so expensive to pay for the costs of parking lots. But their lackluster response only raises more questions: Why are disabled employees and students being made to pay simply to access the campus where they study and work? Why are free passes ex- tended to disabled veterans but not to other disabled UTEP workers and students? And why are UTEP’s parking passes pricier than any other UT system campus de- spite a lower cost of living in El Paso? The UTEP ADA Parking OC—and the broad coalition of student groups, employees, and community disability justice activists we’ve built—will continue to mount pressure until UTEP becomes the accessible university our community deserves.