In a fiery letter, the leader of a local union San Diego Unified Trustee Richard Barrera once helped lead, called on the California Teachers Association to withdraw its endorsement of Barrera’s campaign for state superintendent.
The call brought up resentments still lingering from a sexual harassment scandal and resulting political battle that reshaped the leadership of San Diego’s labor movement. Still, leaders in local and state education unions are holding firm in their support for Barrera.
The letter, penned by UFCW Local 135 president Todd Walters and addressed to CTA President David Goldberg, says CTA’s endorsement of Barrera is “deeply concerning and should be withdrawn.”
Walters, and UFCW Local 135’s, beef with Barrera stems from a series of late 2010s scandals involving one-time labor leader Mickey Kasparian. Kasparian, then the head of UFCW Local 135 and the San Diego-Imperial Labor Council, a sort of union of unions, was once one of the most powerful men in the local labor movement.
Beginning in 2016, a series of women credibly accused Kasparian of sexual harassment, with some even filing lawsuits. Kasparian clung to the reins of the Labor Council and the UFCW Local 135 for more than a year. Barrera was never accused of sexual harassment, but as the then-treasurer secretary-treasurer of the UFCW Local 135, Barrera was viewed as a close ally of Kasparian.
“At a moment when moral clarity and decisive leadership were required, Barrera chose the easiest thing possible: inaction. He did not intervene, he did not speak out, and he did not stand with the women who were harmed,” the letter claims.
Kasparian’s rule over the Labor Council only ended when the AFL-CIO, a sort of nationwide union of unions, removed him and placed the Council into receivership. In response, Kasparian choreographed a messy split within the labor movement, wherein he helped orchestrate the breakaway of a number of unions into a rival organization called the Working Families Council.
“Barrera was part of that decision-making and stood with Kasparian throughout this destructive split,” the letter claims.
Ultimately, UFCW Local 135 membership ousted Kasparian, effectively banishing him to the political hinterlands. Barrera, who was voted out as secretary-treasurer in the same election, continued to serve as a San Diego Unified trustee throughout the entire scandal. The Working Families Council also dissolved in the following years.
In the letter, Walters urged CTA leadership to rethink the endorsement given what he said was Barrera’s part in the Kasparian scandal.
“If Barrera could not stand up to a bully within his own organization, nor stand with women who were harmed under his watch, it is fair to question how he would stand up for the children, educators, and families of California,” Walters wrote.
For his part, Barrera said Walters’ characterization of his role in the saga was “not accurate and not fair.”
“I have kept my focus on supporting our educators, supporting working families and making sure our students have the opportunity to thrive in our schools,” Barrera said.
Last month’s unexpected endorsement by CTA – the state’s largest teachers union – singlehandedly elevated Barrera from longshot to contender. Its revocation would crush his chances of winning.
There are no indications that will happen. Goldberg and Kyle Weinberg, the president of the San Diego Education Association, both issued statements affirming their support for Barrera shortly after the UFCW posted its letter to social media.
Goldberg echoed some of the glowing language he used when he told Voice of San Diego last month that CTA was willing to “leave it all out on the line,” for Barrera’s candidacy. In the statement, Goldberg wrote that of the “highly qualified and impressive candidates,” interviewed by his union’s members, Barrera stood out above everyone else.
“He is someone who has the deep understanding of what it will take to win the schools our students deserve,” Goldberg wrote. “We are confident in the outcome of our union’s democratic endorsement process and couldn’t be more excited about what this election means for every student and educator in California.”
Weinberg similarly heaped praise on Barrera. The longtime board member has always been a close ally of the union that represents San Diego Unified teachers, reliably voting for union-friendly initiatives.
“Here in San Diego, we know Richard Barrera as a warrior for working people and for our students. We’ve worked side-by-side to win transformative victories for our entire community,” Weinberg wrote. “We unequivocally support Richard Barrera for state superintendent.”