Concerned Educators Against Forced Unionism's (CEAFU) mission to free teachers from compulsory unionism includes exposing the compulsory nature of monopoly bargaining, even when it occurs in Right To Work states. During this year's annual CEAFU Conference that brings together many non-union professional educator associations, alternatives to monopoly-bargaining power received considerable attention. Professional Oklahoma Educators (POE) Executive Director Ginger Tinney developed an alternative to monopoly bargaining because she knew he changes from monopoly bargaining to "nothing" (no represented means of communication with their employer) would be difficult. Tinney began with a model developed by Michael Barlow as she describes in her presentation to this year's CEAFU Conference. (See video above). Tinney's presentation, Oklahoma Collaborative Communications: A Better Way, references the difficult journey from taking teachers from union power to collaborative communications, i.e. from monopoly bargaining to free communications. The dedicated POE members and staff have helped make collaborative communications work for educators and students in Oklahoma. From the Professional Oklahoma Educators website: Professional Oklahoma Educators: Is an independent association. Is dedicated to professionalism. Is doing what is best for the children. Provides liability protection and legal services for Oklahoma educators. Offers quality professional development opportunities to members and other educators. Is non-partisan, which enables us to work with all political parties in the pursuit of positive educational change. Lobbies on the issues related to education only. Is a Character First organization. Professional Oklahoma Educators is a non-union, nonpartisan professional organization for all school personnel. Our goal, like yours, is to achieve what is best for Oklahoma students. As a nonpartisan organization, we do not endorse or make contributions to political candidates. Because of our commitment to professionalism and our dedication to our students, we believe it is wrong for teachers to strike or walk out of the classroom. We believe our focus as educators should be on educating our children. Therefore, it is imperative that administrators, teachers, and parents work in a respectable manner to help each student in Oklahoma achieve his or her highest level in academics and leadership. Please visit our membership page for more information about Professional Oklahoma Educators' many member benefits and services. Monopoly Bargaining Undermines the Individual Even in some Right to Work states, teachers are still forced to endure representation they don't want. In Right To Work states, teachers can decide not to join a union or resign from union membership, but often teachers still remain captives of teacher union officials because of exclusive representation power enshrined in the monopoly bargaining contracts. If teachers choose not to be a part of a union with a monopoly bargaining contract, they remain excluded from negotiations with school management. Consequently, many may remain members hoping that they will have some say in the contract. Professional Oklahoma Educators and other non-union educator associations are working to create alternatives and lift teachers out of monopoly-bargained captivity. If you know a teacher who is interested in leaving their union, you should pass this information along to them.

• published: 24 May 2014
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