‘Don’t silence my union.’ Teachers group says Fayette schools has stopped recognizing it

Dozens of Fayette County members of the employee union KY 120 United-AFT attended Monday night’s school board meeting in protest after they said the district and Superintendent Demetrus Liggins is no longer recognizing the group.

Fayette school district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said in response Tuesday morning that following the legislative action taken by the Kentucky General Assembly this spring to immediately stop payroll deductions for certain employee organizations, the district began reviewing how it classifies different advocacy groups in FCPS.

“This led to a discovery that in some cases, we had unintentionally developed inconsistent treatment for some groups,” said Deffendall.

Labor organizations play a critical role in working with employers on behalf of their members to promote workers’ rights, bring shared concerns to light, and advocate for individual employees during personnel matters, said Deffendall.

The American Federation of Teachers, locally known as AFT120, has not gone through the proper channels of filing the appropriate paperwork with state agencies to be recognized as a Kentucky labor organization, she said.

“We have asked AFT120 to go through that process and show through bylaws and a democratic method that they represent our employees in order to ensure this is truly a representative group,” said Deffendall.

“Until that happens, the administration of FCPS will no longer grant AFT or AFT120 the same privileges and rights that other state and local labor organizations receive,” she said.

Examples include representing employees in personnel meetings that are not of an investigative nature, granting a Memorandum of Understanding to allow an FCPS employee to work for the organization, or meeting regularly with FCPS staff, including the superintendent.

“This decision was not made lightly and was based on the legal protection of FCPS and for purposes of consistency and fairness,” said Deffendall. “Once the AFT120 group completes the necessary paperwork, we look forward to continuing to work with them. We remain committed to maintaining a fair and supportive work environment for all employees within our district.”

KY 120 United-AFT Member Laura Hartke spoke at the Monday meeting. She said for two years, AFT has represented teachers from across the district and they have had memorandums of understanding with the school district vetted by attorneys and signed by the superintendent.

On April 14, Hartke said, Liggins told AFT they had not chartered as “local” in Kentucky and as a result would no longer be recognized by the district. The group is recognized as a state chapter of National AFT, the largest labor union of the AFL-CIO, said Hartke.

“There is no policy requirement from the district or law that would justify the district’s choice to shut down staff voices,” Hartke said.

District officials had asked for a copy of bylaws and other internal union documents that exceed the requirements of the National Labor Relations Board, Hartke said in an interview with the Herald-Leader.

Hartke said there is no policy regarding the district decision, just a district “preference.”

“Why would the district choose to inflict this much trauma on hundreds of employees?” Hartke asked the board. She said her group had not received any written communication from the school district.

Hartke received a standing ovation from AFT members in the audience.

A second teacher’s group is also active in the district, the Fayette County Education Association.

In March 2018, KY120 United organized to support educators, state workers, families and communities in all of Kentucky’s 120 counties. In 2021, they moved from being a grassroots organization to affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers. At that time, the Fayette district recognized them as a union, Hartke said.

“I cannot believe... we are now being told we are illegitimate,” AFT co-founder Nema Brewer said at the school board meeting. “These people matter.”

She said more than 80% of her group’s members are in schools with underserved and marginalized students.

“It’s a shame that our board and our district does not support us,” Brewer said at the school board meeting.

She told the Herald-Leader that the union has thousands of members across the state and hundreds in Fayette.

National AFT is the largest membership in the national AFL-CIO with 1.7 million members, she said.

“Don’t silence my union,” said Catherine Blair, a special education education teacher at James Lane Allen Elementary. “Do not silence our voices.”

Liggins and school board members did not respond to the AFT members at the meeting.

School board members received many emails from AFT members over the last week, board member Amanda Ferguson told the Herald-Leader.

“I had hoped we could address their concerns and clear the air in public last night and I asked the chair (Tyler Murphy) to add the issue to our meeting agenda but I never received a response,” said Ferguson.

Murphy serves as a representative from Kentucky to the National Education Association Board of Directors, which is affiliated with the other teacher groups -- KEA and FCEA.

He did not immediately answer a question about whether his role with a rival group had anything to do with the decision to not acknowledge KY 120 United -AFT.

This story was originally published April 25, 2023 at 10:28 AM.