On January 25, 2022, the Pennsylvania House Labor and Industry Committee approved four pieces of legislation aimed at union transparency and educator notification rights. The Keystone Teachers Association supports all four of these pieces of legislation which were approved along strict party lines. They are as follows:
House Bill 844 would ban public employees’ personal information, including social security numbers, home addresses, home telephone numbers, personal mobile numbers, and personal email addresses, as subjects of collective bargaining.
House Bill 845 would require proposed collective bargaining agreements to be published on the school’s or district’s website at least fourteen (14) days before the agreement is accepted. Current law allows for union negotiations to be private. In many instances, the local union excludes KEYTA and non-union members from being part of or made aware of what is being negotiated on their behalf, even though they are bound to what is eventually approved. This transparency would allow non-members to view what is being considered under the negotiated contract and have an opportunity to offer comments, suggestions, and even endorsements to the union or school board before the final approval.
House Bill 2042 would require school districts and school entities to notify non-union members annually, and new employees when they begin employment, that they are not required to join or make payments to the union. This is more commonly known as Janus Rights.
House Bill 2048 would ban public schools and districts from allowing political action committee (PAC) deductions from employee wages.
KEYTA has always fought for union transparency in the collective bargaining process. We have also believed in the rudimentary right for an employee to be allowed to participate in their local, state, or national union as well as being able to abstain from funding or participating in those unions. However, most public school employees are not aware of these rights and, while the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME ruling protects educators from being forced to pay fair share fees, Pennsylvania unions and school entities have not openly made employees aware of these rights to join or not join the union. We encourage members to contact your local legislators and ask that they push for the advancement of these pieces of legislation.
