From: Artlipow@aol.com
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 11:04:05 EDT
To: Labor-Rap@csf.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: NEA/AFT
>From Gretchen Mackler in London on vacation and picked up your mail.
I was a delegate to the convention in N.O. and I too was surprised at the
vote. While I seemed very clear after the first day I didn't expect the 42%
outcome.  California (my state) had a thousand solid yes votes but in
discussions with leadership we felt that there had been too much paper info on
the merger and not enought meeting out in the states to deal directly with the
negative questions and attitudes.  BUT and we beleive this issues was very
vital and that was that California's teachers were entirely tied up with an
anti union initiative that went to ballot in June.  CTA, as well as outrAFL-
CIO sisters and brothers were involved in massive phone banking operations.
(a twenty million dollar campaign on our part)   Ca. teachers should have been
all over the country on the unity campaign. S.F. and L.A. are both merger
locals and we've benefitted by this experience.  I discovered  from several
delgates from other states that there were serious questions about how members
in rural areas would be represented compared to urban areas in their own
state.  Which tells me the campaign in that state had been framed around those
issues, obviously to influence the vote.   Gretchen Mackler
3696 Dorisa Ave., Oakland Ca 94605 (Alameda CTA -- State Council)