D.C. Families, Trumka Demand Respect for Teachers
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Thousands of students, parents, teachers and community members from across Washington, D.C., converged on the district’s Freedom Plaza yesterday afternoon to rally in support of hundreds of laid-off teachers.
Nearly 400 school employees have been laid off as a result of controversial decisions by D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee. The layoffs include 229 classroom teachers, many of them veterans. The Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) has protested the layoffs, saying that many teachers have been targeted for their age and that the firings are poorly timed and an attempt to undermine the teachers’ contract.
At yesterday’s rally, reports Chris Garlock of the Metropolitan Washington Council, D.C. residents and students of all ages spoke out strongly in support of their teachers. It was one of the largest labor rallies in recent memory in the District. At the rally it was announced that a delegation of teachers sought to present to Mayor Adrian Fenty with a statement in opposition to the layoffs, but Fenty’s assistant wouldn’t even come to the door to accept it.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called the firings “a cold hard case of union busting,” and said that union members across the city stand in solidarity with fired teachers:
The labor movement is right here with you. We’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with you for as long as it takes.
LabourStart: AFT Reaches Out at Home, Around the World
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On the second day of the LabourStart conference, participants got to hear from AFT this afternoon about the challenges facing teachers in the United States and around the world.
David Dorn, director of the AFT International Affairs Department, said the AFT long has been interested in reaching out around the world. One of the most important projects in which AFT has been engaged is the AFT-Africa AIDS Program. African teachers unions with which AFT has built relationships have been affected by the AIDS crisis, as their members, their students and their students’ families and communities have been devastated by the spread of HIV and AIDS.
AFT is using organizing techniques to educate teachers in South Africa and other countries about AIDS, primarily through teacher-to-teacher education aimed at breaking the silence that surrounds AIDS and connecting people to information, counseling, testing and treatment.
43,000 New Jersey Communications Workers Ratify Pact, and More Bargaining News
Some 43,000 New Jersey Communications Workers of America ratify a revised contract—and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The
AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,100 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
CWA, New Jersey: More than 43,000 workers in the largest union representing New Jersey state workers, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), ratified a revised contract that defers a raise and swaps furloughs this year for future vacation days. “During these hard economic times, nothing is more important than protecting vital public services and the jobs of working people,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA’s New Jersey area director.
Help Locked-Out Workers Get Through the Holidays, and More Bargaining News
Workers locked out at Progress Casting in Minnesota need your help for the holidays—and more news here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES AND ACTIONS
GMP, Progress Casting: Many workers locked out since Oct. 27 from Progress Casting in Plymouth, Minn., are struggling to make ends meet as the holidays approach—and their health care coverage has been cut. Please support our brothers and sisters in their battle. The workers are represented by the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers (GMP) Local 63B, and the union has set up a fund to assist members. Donations may be sent to “GMP 63B Relief Fund,” 2520 Kennedy St., N.E., Minneapolis, MN 55413. Supporters also are asked to write Progress Casting to urge an end to the lockout. Send letters to Bill Bieber (owner) or Tim Meador (general manager), Progress Casting, 2600 Niagara Lane N., Plymouth, MN 55447.
