
“THE UNION IS NOT one person, it’s all of us coming together to meet with management and find a solution together,” says Amy Kilburn, president of Association of Clovis Educators (ACE). “We try very hard to empower others to do the work and be a part of the change. We have power when we come together.”
“When they say ‘the union,’ who is the union? I am the union. When they say ‘the CTA’ — who is CTA? I am CTA.” —ACE President Amy Kilburn

Association of Clovis Educators in May of this year; ACE President Amy Kilburn is second from right.
In Clovis, where classroom educators continue to organize to win a union, Kilburn says the danger of “third-partying” the union is real and ever-present. Third-partying the union refers to the act of portraying the union as a separate, external entity, rather than an organization composed of the workers it represents. This concept often arises during labor disputes when employers attempt to depict unions as outside forces that are disconnected from the members’ interests.
This tactic can undermine the solidarity and effectiveness of the union, and it is important to understand why and how to avoid this pitfall.

Amy Kilburn
“The damage of ‘othering’ a union is alive and well in our district. People will still say ‘the CTA’ or ‘the union’ and not know what it means,” says Kilburn. “Who taught us that message? Management taught us to keep us apart. This is a tool to keep Labor from realizing we have the power to impact our communities.”
The othering of the union can impact a local even when it’s not being weaponized by a school district, weakening our connections to each other and hampering us from achieving our collective goals — not only for ourselves but for our students and communities. As union educators, we need to shout out the power of us whenever possible to remind each other what’s possible when we work together.

CNTA’s PAC Committee held a Postcard Party in early September to kick off their local election campaign; more than 50 volunteers took part.
“It’s important to show we believe in more than ourselves. The power of helping somebody else and them helping you as a solid group — you can’t put words to that,” says Frank Mata, high school English teacher and Corona Norco Teachers Association (CNTA) member. “Union activism has changed my lens and how I view meaning in my work and as a human being — and it’s changed my life.”
“Invite folks and appeal to shared values to show that our union is the collective of our shared goals.” —CNTA leader Frank Mata

Frank Mata
Mata said that our union is about bettering ourselves to better all of us, to help our students grow and our communities to thrive. He said third-partying the union was an issue in CNTA until leaders held one-on-one meetings with every single member to talk about their needs — “it’s amazing what it yielded, just that one thing,” Mata says. This is why our solidarity and how we talk about our union is so important — maintaining a unified front is crucial for achieving better wages, working conditions and resources for our students, and building power at the bargaining table.
For Michelle Nickell-Ramos, former president of Covina Unified Education Association (CUEA), building agency in the union also means working to ensure “the union is all of us” isn’t just a slogan. This includes decentralizing union leadership and empowering members to work together at the site level to solve problems.
“We’re really big on ‘We are CUEA.’ You don’t go to CUEA or call them. It’s not a service or entity.” —Michelle Nickell-Ramos, Covina Unified Education Association leader
“We’ve been very assertive with admin about insisting their principals talk to members at their sites before escalating it to local union leadership. We’ve been very deliberate about training and empowering our site reps,” says Nickell-Ramos, Service Center Council One chair. “Our reps feel supported because we’ve given them the resources and space to hold meetings and handle our union issues at their site.”

Michelle Nickell-Ramos
This member empowerment strengthens our locals, raising collective knowledge and surfacing activists and leaders at sites throughout school districts. Nickell-Ramos says this is especially important because it reinforces that speaking up about problems helps to resolve them and shows members that there isn’t one person to call to fix things.
“It is easier to be a union leader when everyone feels like a union leader,” she says. “I’m not a speech pathologist or a school counselor — those people need to feel enough support from the collective that they feel comfortable to express their needs and wants. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.”
Sí, Se Puede
While some of the terminology may be modern, the ideas of worker empowerment and collective power have long guided our inspiring struggles. Legendary organizer Dolores Huerta’s rallying cry of “sí, se puede” (yes, we can) embodies the spirit of collective empowerment, where the union is inseparable from the workers. Huerta has always taught of the importance of grassroots organizing, where workers take ownership of their union and use it as a vehicle to express their collective power.
Along with César Chávez, Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz, Huerta led the United Farm Workers (UFW), empowering some of society’s most essential yet undervalued workers and helping them see how much they were capable of accomplishing together. Chávez also emphasized the importance of unity and solidarity, recognizing that the strength of the union comes from the workers’ active involvement and shared commitment. He believed that when workers understood that they were the union, they would be more motivated to engage in organizing efforts, strikes and boycotts, all of which were crucial in the UFW’s fight for better working conditions and rights for farmworkers.
Kilburn says this plays out today in schools throughout Clovis — just a short ride north from the fields of Delano where Huerta, Chávez, Itliong and Vera Cruz helped build a movement. She says it makes a huge difference for members when they feel connected to each other and committed to shared goals in a real way. The power of struggle to unite is real.
“Our members feel heard and know that they’re part of the solution. They’re excited they can come together and fight for what’s best for workers and students,” Kilburn says. “It also builds faith in your organization. Our school psychologists have their first contract with a grievance process — it resonates with our members so much because none of our other members have that option and so it makes it real for us.
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