A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order against a charter network that has been interfering with teachers’ efforts to form a union with United Teachers Los Angeles, the city’s AFT affiliate.

The order says that Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, the city’s largest charter group, cannot coerce or ask teachers about their positions on unionization, must let organizers onto campuses, cannot block emails from the union and must stay 100 feet away from organizers.

It stems from the California Public Employment Relations Board’s request earlier in October for an injunction against the charter network. The order will remain in place until the judge considers the board’s request in December.

Union leaders have filed four unfair labor practice charges against Alliance accusing the network of violating state law by intimidating employees, conducting surveillance on teachers and blocking organizers at school sites.

“The court now has stated clearly that these educators at Alliance are not being treated fairly and that validates, frankly, what these educators at Alliance have been saying for months,” UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl said.

The teachers announced their intention to join the union in March.

Los Angeles Times, Oct. 30