Fellow AFT members and defenders of public education!
Links below will take you to videos of the February 11 general membership meeting of the Detroit Federation of Teachers.
Detroit Federation of Teachers union meeting of February 11, 2010: According to the DFT constitution, this meeting was supposed to hear the charges against President Johnson (brought by 1300 members' petition signatures on January 7), allow him an opportunity to respond, and then take a vote on removing him.
Instead of following the union constitution, Johnson asserted that he had the right to summarily dismiss the petitions, and came to the meeting seen here with his own agenda. You can watch and listen as Johnson rules out of order all our motions to include the trial in the agenda, further evidence of how he violates members' fundamental rights and why he needs to be removed.
Detroit teachers want to remove Johnson for failing to represent us in this summers contract negotiations with state-imposed Financial Manager Robert Bobb, as Bobb works to privatize and dismantle public education in Detroit, including school closings, mass lay-offs, and converting public schools to charter schools. Johnson and Bobb have been working together to carry out the Arne Duncan/Randi Weingarten attack on public education in Americas major cities.
Teachers and students demand resources and support to achieve equal, quality, integrated education!
http://www.youtube.com/user/DFTmembers
Also listen to a Michigan Public Radio report about the meeting that has been broadcast across the country:
1300 DFT members signed the recall petitions
The members alone have the right to decide whether the charges are valid
From the DFT Constitution & By-Laws:
Article VIII Recall of Officers
(a) Petition for the recall of any officer for violation of his obligation of office shall be initiated by a recall petition clearly stating the specific charges and signed by not fewer than one thousand (1000) members in good standing from not fewer than twenty percent (20%) of the schools or work locations.
(b) No officer shall be subjected to recall proceedings without being given at least 30 days written notice of the charges preferred against him and an opportunity to appear before the membership at a regular or special meeting. Two-thirds of those present and voting at the meeting shall be required to recall the officer.
1 comment:
I was reading the DFT constitution and bylaws and came across the portion that discusses misconduct (Article XV - Misconduct and Penalties) of a member. It appears to clearly state in Section 1(b) that before an executive can be expelled from office that they must have an impartial trial and be found guilty before removal. And Section 3(b) states that the Executive Board shall decide whether or not to hold a trial.
The Executive Board decided the charges were not clearly written and the petition was voided. Case closed.
These are sections that Steve Conn and BAMN have not been including in their emails or flyers. The fact that they want to trie Keith Johnson in a kangaroo court at DFT meetings doesn’t change anything. Steve Conn can keep having temper tantrums all he wants, but Keith Johnson is not stepping down.
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