AEU conducted an anonymous survey of its members/supporters for potential questions to ask the candidates for the CSEA Executive Director in the upcoming hiring interviews. The following questions were submitted to AEU:
- What would you do to improve the relationship with the staff union?
- In the post-Janus world, communicating with and organizing our members will become more important than ever. What resources would you bring to the field staff and the field operations department to help with these critical priorities? What experience with communications and organizing do you have? How do you think CSEA could improve when it comes to communications and organizing?
- Will you try to move CSEA's focus back toward member representation and away from politics?
- What are your plans for ensuring an equitable environment regarding field staff having to deal with abusive individuals in the field?
- Is it important to you that you establish a good working relationship with the AEU members?
- Will you treat your employees with the same courtesy as you do your managers?
- How do your ethical and personal beliefs align with those of CSEA? Are you willing to change them if they currently do not align with CSEA's and member's expectations?
- Describe what type of relationship you want to have with the field staff, including support staff, and how would you benchmark your relationship status for transparency.
- How would your actions show that you value AEU members as a whole?
- What are some successful ways you've been able to motivate employees? How would you build a better relationship between the CSEA and the AEU?
- What is your Union resume?
- Could you commit to having a "trust the person on the ground" approach within Field Operations?
- What would your vision be to work cohesively with your staff?
- How do you describe your management style? How will your management style affect the motivation and inspiration of CSEA Staff?
- Describe your knowledge of the governance of CSEA and the Member-Staff relationship.
- How do you see CSEA engaging in the fight for single-payer health care on an LEA, COE, statewide, and national level & how can we engage our CSEA members, their families, districts, and communities in the campaign? Will we work with other unions to achieve it? Will we fund extra legal services for our members and their families as immigration detentions and crackdowns intensify? How else could (or should) CSEA protect our members and communities from xenophobic government attacks?
- What do you envision CSEA doing to address climate change as part of its mission to improve the lives of our members, students, and communities?
- In light of the Janus decision, it seems like CSEA can't continue with business as usual. Currently, the staff has been expected to wear three hats: representation; organize; and policy interpretation. It seems like in a post-Janus world, innovation and doing things differently will be the key to coming out on top. Do you see organizing in CSEA?s future? Or will we continue with business as usual?
- Will you respect the autonomy of the AEU staff and will you support your AEU staff decision-making abilities?
- How do you plan to integrate digital organizing resources into staff and member training?
- How will you position CSEA to be an employer that will be attractive as a lifelong career, particularly for new hires that may just be starting their labor career?
- Will you address the pension tier that exists in CSEA between legacy employees and new hires who do the same work to make the benefits at CSEA more equitable?
- What do you see for CSEA and public sector unions in 3, 5 and 10 years?
- Given the Janus decision, what different ideas do you have on improving CSEA?s long-term viability, that havn't already been suggested or implemented?
- What are the most important issues staff can make a difference in?
- Do you sit on the governing boards, or are you involved with, any organizations that have a position, disposition, or are part of a market that is directly in conflict with the guiding principles or practices of CSEA?
- How will you improve treatment of your staff by CSEA managers so that AEU members feel like respected and valued partners in fighting to improve the lives of CSEA members?
- Do you believe CSEA managers are always honest? Would you favor management over frontline employees? How would you address the perception of this disparity?
- How will Labor Reps be supported in a Janus world?
- Have you ever sat across the table with a labor union in a management capacity? Please describe what has been or would be your approach under such circumstances.
- Would you commit to doing a salary/benefits study for staff in light of the fact organization continues to put more on the staff's plate while others make similar or matching wages for fewer hours worked?
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