The North Dakota Education Association has merged with the North Dakota Public Employees Association to form a new organization – dubbed “North Dakota United.”
"We have members in every community in the state of North Dakota," said ND United president Nick Archuleta. "We have snowplow drivers, we have mental health workers, we have social workers, and of course teachers."
Archuleta says the new union has 10-thousand members. That number includes 800 faculty and staff in the North Dakota University System.
"Now we can start having those conversations about, what should a graduating senior expect college will be like," said Archuleta. "We can have discussions with higher ed about how we make those transitions better for those students, so they have a better chance of succeeding once they're there."
Archuleta says the new organization will bring a lot of benefits to its members – including strength in lobbying the Legislature.
"Sometimes, it's easy if you can drive wedges between people, to peel off support for specific proposals," said Archuleta. "When we stand united, that's going to be very hard to do."
Archuleta says one of the big issues the union faces is the effort by some legislators to change teachers and state employees’ retirement plans from “defined benefit” to “defined contribution.”
