Teachers at Tucson’s BASIS charter school secure union contract

Teachers at BASIS Tucson North ratified a collective bargaining agreement this week, making the Northeast side charter the first in Arizona to have unionized staff and teachers.

The group said the 55 teachers at BASIS Tucson North “wanted a union to be able to advocate for students’ needs and to ensure
financial transparency” at BASIS.

This
week, the new union—AFT Local 6627, Arizona Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff—was able to secure to bargaining agreement with BASIS, LLC the
school’s for-profit operator.

The union said the contract “secures for the educators an end to unjust
labor practices through enforceable terms of employment, a grievance
process and guaranteed raises and benefits.” 

“This is the first contract for an Arizona charter school, laying a
strong foundation for rights and a voice for educators at their school
and showing others at unorganized charters the way to move forward,”
said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, AZ-ACT’s parent union.
Weingarten said the Local 6627 members did “brave and important work” to
organize their union
and achieve a contract.

“This contract will help educators in
charters in Arizona and elsewhere to see how important it is to have a
union,” Weingarten said.

Representatives for the administrators of BASIS did not immediately respond to Tucson Sentinel’s request for comment Friday.

In April 2023, teachers voted by a 2-1 margin to form a local union
chapter of the Arizona Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff. Only about 12 percent of teachers in U.S. charter schools belong to unions, and the AFT represents teachers in over 240 charter schools across 15 states and Washington D.C.

The union includes “full-time and regular part-time subject expert teachers, teaching fellows, and college guidance coordinators,” according to documents filed with the National Labor Relations Board in 2023.

Not covered are “all other professional and non-professional employees, including IT employees, special education employees, administrators, operations employees, deans, directors, registers, front office employees, curriculum employees,” and other managers and supervisors.

There are more than 560 charter schools in Arizona with around 230,000 students—part of a 30-year-long shift that began in 1994, according to the Arizona Charter Schools Association.

The BASIS vote followed a national trend as educators at charter schools sought the backing of unions to protect wages and defend curriculum.

Founded here in 1998, BASIS Charter Schools expanded from one school
in Tucson to 23 schools in Arizona. BASIS has expanded beyond the state,
including schools in Louisiana, Texas and Washington D.C., There are
four campuses in Tucson, including BASIS Oro Valley, BASIS Oro Valley
Primary, BASIS Tucson Primary, and BASIS Tucson North.

BASIS Tucson North serves fifth through 12-grade students, and was rated as the best high school
and best charter school in the country by U.S. News & World Report earlier this week.