United Teachers of New Orleans

United Teachers of New Orleans, AFT, NEA, AFL-CIO
UTNO
Founded1937
Headquarters2714 Canal Street, Suite 302 New Orleans, Louisiana
Location
Members
1,000+[1]
Key people
Larry J. Carter Jr., President
Parent organization
American Federation of Teachers, Louisiana Federation of Teachers
AffiliationsAFL-CIO
Websitewww.utno.org

United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) is a labor union representing teachers and other educational workers in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is an affiliate of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT), American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the AFL-CIO.

UTNO was the first integrated teachers' union in Louisiana, and the first to win a collective bargaining agreement in the state without the protection of a state employees collective bargaining law. Once the largest union in Louisiana,[2] a state takeover of the city public schools in the wake of Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed the union. UTNO has been reorganizing with help from its parent union, the American Federation of Teachers, and the AFL-CIO. As of August 2007, the union had regained more than 1,000 members and in October 2007 began negotiating its first post-storm contract with the Orleans Parish school board (OPSB).

  1. ^ Union spokesperson Christian Roseland publicly stated in August 2007 that the union's membership (presumably in all New Orleans area schools) numbered about 1,000. However, just a week later, Dr. Brenda Mitchell, UTNO president, said the union only had 900 members. Though it is unclear which number is correct, union membership has soared from the 300 members the union had in March 2006. See: Maloney, "United Teachers of New Orleans Seek Post-Katrina Identity," New Orleans CityBusiness, August 13, 2007; Gibson and Reid, "Across N.O., Minds Are On Schools," New Orleans Times-Picayune, August 5, 2007; Ritea, "N.O. Teachers Union Loses Its Force in Storm's Wake," New Orleans Times-Picayune, March 5, 2006.
  2. ^ Bohrer, "New Orleans School Board Rebuffs Teachers' Efforts to Bargain," Associated Press, May 1, 2007.