Yesterday was “work to the rule” day for teachers in the overly-large school district for which I work. And almost no one seemed to know about it unless they happened to catch the story on the local TV news or read about it in the morning paper.
The union billed yesterday as a “work to the rule” day during which many teachers reported for the required 7.5 hours in school and did no unpaid work, such as tutoring or grading papers, before or after the school day.
Other than staging photo ops, I’m not sure what the local teacher’s union does. In Virginia, there is no such thing as collective bargaining for public employees so the local NEA and AFT affiliates can do little more than “consult” with the superintendent and school board.
But a one day “work to the rule” seems a little wimpy even for them. According to the district’s public relations office, there were no “instances yesterday in which classes or other activities, before or after school, were disrupted”.
Is there any purpose in conducting a one-day protest exclusively for the 6 o’clock news?
Over on the west coast we have started 12 days of “working to the rule” – hoping to make an impact in the days leading up to our Fact Finding hearing. With a strike around the corner, there is a fading hope that this will let the district know we are serious. Most of us are leaving earlier then normal, not grading papers outside of the contracted day, locking doors during lunch time, etc. Don’t know if it will get the desired effect, the district doesn’t seem to care what we do anyway.
No photo ops though. That seems to be the problem, nothing to photograph – plus our local media is very luke warm to union activities.
Good luck…