The POWER 30: Margaret Luger-Nikolai

There seems to be a consensus that to really move on from the pandemic, people have to get back to work and, as a practical matter, children have to get back to school. There also seems to be a consensus that children are not only educated, but nurtured, in schools.

But until there are effective vaccinations for children available, can teachers be asked to go back to school?

“We have not thought of teaching as a job you have to risk your life for,” said Margaret Luger-Nikolai, attorney at Education Minnesota and chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association Labor and Employment Section. “We’ve got to look at the job differently and give teachers the space to be the nurturers.”

Teachers and other employees have the benefit of tenure and collective bargaining agreements as well as legislation including the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But planning for reopening the schools has been complex as the state has left the districts some autonomy and many teachers are opposed to returning.

Education Minnesota, an umbrella over hundreds of organizations of teachers and other education employees advocates for funding for schools and for teachers’ rights to strike, among other issues. It has not taken a position on vaccinations but will bargain over it when the vaccines become generally available, Luger-Nikolai said.

The Public Employment Relations Board is set up under Chapter 7325 of the Minnesota Administrative Rules to deal with unfair labor complaints, but it is not fully funded, Luger-Nikolai said. Collective bargaining is governed by the Public Employment Labor Relations Act, Minn. Stat. Ch. 179A. That statute also governs the right to strike.

On the national level the teachers union environment has started to change with the recission of some memoranda from the previous administration, but changes at the National Labor Relations Board take longer to come about, Luger-Nikolai said.

The labor and employment section’s two biggest goals are education of its members and partnering with other sections, Luger-Nikolai said. It is also dedicated to maintaining relationships with law students, she added.