SUPPORT THE TEACHERS OF PUERTO RICO,
WHO FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF US ALL!
WHO FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF US ALL!
JOIN US IN SUPPORT OF PUERTO RICO'S TEACHERS
AND IN DEFENSE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION!
DEMONSTRATE YOUR SOLIDARITY!!
5pm • Tuesday, March 4, 2008 • 5pm
Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration offices
475 Park Avenue South at 32 Street, Manhattan
AND IN DEFENSE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION!
DEMONSTRATE YOUR SOLIDARITY!!
5pm • Tuesday, March 4, 2008 • 5pm
Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration offices
475 Park Avenue South at 32 Street, Manhattan
A crucial strike for all working people is now taking place in Puerto Rico! The island's biggest labor union is waging a fight for survival, for free public education and against the privatization schools. At stake are the universal right to unionize, to collective bargaining, to strike and workers' rights and the basic right of freedom of expression. The Teachers' Federation of Puerto Rico (FMPR) has been on strike since February 21, 2008 in a life and death struggle against the anti-labor and repressive crusade of the colonial government. The colonial administration of Anibal Acevedo Vilá has been refusing to negotiate for more than 27 months with no contract. With more than 40,000 members, mainly women, the Federation has refused to be intimidated and is taking a courageous stand for the rights of all.
The government's contempt for teachers, students and parents, as well as for their input in education, is so extreme that it locked out the teachers throughout the island, as well as hundreds of thousands of students, for two weeks during April-May 2006. The government, facing a fiscal crisis, was forcing the public sectors to endure the brunt of the crisis.
Now SEIU chief Dennis Rivera helped get Puerto Rico teachers union ousted so he could hijack members. While the clash between the teachers' militant leaders and the government was grabbing the headlines, Rivera was maneuvering to snatch control of the teachers for his Service Employees International Union. Puerto Rico Governor Acevedo Vilá's Secretary of Education, Aragunde, has ruled that the federation will not be permitted to run in any new elections for a union to represent the teachers.
More than support statements are needed! As support grows among workers, union members and independent unions in Puerto Rico and internationally, our support NOW will make a difference!! With growing potential for other unions in Puerto Rico to walk out in solidarity, public pressure greatly intensifies on the anti-worker union-busting administration in Puerto Rico. Already, the colonial government faces a social and political crisis, as the school strike affects every part of the island. Solidarity actions by workers everywhere in support of the Puerto Rican teachers are crucial.
JOIN US IN SUPPORT OF PUERTO RICO'S TEACHERS AND IN DEFENSE
OF PUBLIC EDUCATION!
DEMONSTRATE YOUR SOLIDARITY!!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration offices
475 Park Avenue South at 32 Street, Manhattan
5pm
OF PUBLIC EDUCATION!
DEMONSTRATE YOUR SOLIDARITY!!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration offices
475 Park Avenue South at 32 Street, Manhattan
5pm
http://mysite.
http://www.fmprluch
fmpr.support.
News
- A petition will be passed out at the UFT DA on Weds. Mar. 5.
- A motion supporting the Puerto Rican teachers strike, and to participate in strike support work, was passed unanimously by the PSC delegate assembly tonight, and $651dollars were collected. The PSC is part of the AFT.
http://www.laborradio.org/node/8013
- Striking Puerto Rican Teachers Union Decertification Upheld By Appellate Court - 02/28/08
By Doug Cunningham
FMPR, a union representing 42,000 striking Puerto Rico teachers, is officially decertified. An appellate court upheld that decertification. The teachers went on strike after 30 months of bargaining proved fruitless. The Puerto Rican Secretary of Education says there will be no further contract talks under any circumstances. Puerto Rican teachers are paid more than $19,000 less than teachers in any U.S. state, despite the fact that the cost of living is generally higher in Puerto Rico than in the U.S.
WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Produced & Hosted by Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash
Monday, March 3, 2008, 7 - 8 p.m. EST, over 99.5 FM
or streaming live at http://www.wbai.org
****************************************
Union Busting, It’s Disgusting:
Produced & Hosted by Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash
Monday, March 3, 2008, 7 - 8 p.m. EST, over 99.5 FM
or streaming live at http://www.wbai.org
****************************************
Union Busting, It’s Disgusting:
Teachers in Puerto Rico Forced To Strike
with
Raphael Feliciano Hernandez, President,
with
Raphael Feliciano Hernandez, President,
Teachers’ Federation of Puerto Rico (FMPR)
and
Manuel Boigues, Administrator, FMPR
The FMPR strike, that defies the prohibition on strikes by public employees,
has paralyzed the islands’ public schools. The union, representing more
than 42,000 teachers throughout Puerto Rico, struck after years of bad faith
bargaining by Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila and a contested attempt by him to
decertify the union just for threatening a strike. In response to the strike, the
and
Manuel Boigues, Administrator, FMPR
The FMPR strike, that defies the prohibition on strikes by public employees,
has paralyzed the islands’ public schools. The union, representing more
than 42,000 teachers throughout Puerto Rico, struck after years of bad faith
bargaining by Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila and a contested attempt by him to
decertify the union just for threatening a strike. In response to the strike, the
Governor has had the FMPR decertified and excluded them from elections
he is calling for a new union. Now, the Governor appears to be in collusion
with the Service Employees International Union to bust the FMPR and
install an SEIU affiliate.
New York labor SEIU leader Dennis Rivera in shady Puerto Rico union deal
http://webmail.atl.earthlink.net/wam/msg.jsp?msgid=56655&folder=INBOX&isSeen=false&x=96995471
Juan Gonzalez
New York labor leader Dennis Rivera in shady Puerto Rico union deal
Friday, February 29th 2008, 4:00 AM
SEIU chief Dennis Rivera helped get Puerto Rico teachers union ousted so he could hijack members, critics charge. Dabin for News
SEIU chief Dennis Rivera helped get Puerto Rico teachers union ousted so he could hijack members, critics charge.
In what some call a shameful betrayal of solidarity, powerhouse New York labor leader Dennis Rivera has joined Puerto Rico's governor in a stunning attempt to break the island's largest union.
Eight days ago, the Puerto Rico Federation of Teachers, which represents 40,000 teachers, paralyzed island public schools with a strike.
The teachers, who earn top wages of $26,000 a year, had worked for 30 months without a contract. Union leaders were furious that Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila imposed new working conditions last year, decertified the union in January and suspended its dues checkoff.
The governor's draconian actions came after the union's membership voted in November to authorize a strike. Since 1998, Puerto Rico's government workers have not been allowed to strike.
While the clash between the teachers' militant leaders and the government was grabbing the headlines, Rivera was maneuvering to snatch control of the teachers for his Service Employees International Union.
Top labor leaders here and in Puerto Rico say Acevedo Vila gave Rivera, a close friend and a vice president of the 1.6-million member SEIU, a green light last year to oust the teachers federation and replace it with a newly formed labor group, the Union of Puerto Rican Teachers.
That new union is a subsidiary of the Puerto Rico Teachers Association, a group that has long represented principals and supervisors at island public schools.
In January, Rivera and Aida Diaz, president of the principals group, announced that the principals were affiliating with SEIU and their new subsidiary would demand an election to oust the Federation of Teachers.
The principals and supervisors, in effect, created a new union for their subordinates. What they didn't say was that they had the backing of the governor in this union-raiding scheme.
"The governor told Dennis, 'It's essentially yours to take,'" said one source who claims he was at a meeting in late December between top island union leaders, the governor and Rivera.
This week, El Diario-La Prensa reported that Rivera and Acevedo Vila also met in September at a San Juan restaurant to discuss the teachers union as well as possible financial backing by SEIU for the governor.
"That's a total fabrication," Rivera said yesterday of the Diario story. "Did I meet with the governor of Puerto Rico in a public restaurant around August? Yes, I've met with him maybe 20 times. Did I offer him donations in any way, shape or form? Absolutely not."
Rivera also denied any talks with the governor about a campaign by SEIU to become the bargaining agent for Puerto Rico's teachers.
ACEVEDO VILA'S office did not respond yesterday to a request for comment. The governor flatly denied to Puerto Rico reporters this week that he attended any meeting with Rivera to discuss financial support.
A few days after Rivera and the principals' union held their press conference, the government of Puerto Rico decertified the teachers federation. Acevedo's education secretary has ruled that the federation will not be permitted to run in any new elections for a union to represent the teachers.
In Puerto Rico, there is a long history of antagonism between independent unions, like the teachers and the electrical workers, and the labor organizations connected to the AFL-CIO or the new Change to Win federation, of which SEIU is a part.
Too many U.S.-based unions operate in an arrogant and colonialist fashion, the independents say.
What they never expected was to see the most influential Puerto Rican labor leader in the U.S. treat them just like those old Washington labor leaders have done for so long.
jgonzalez@nydailynews.com
http://webmail.atl.earthlink.net/wam/msg.jsp?msgid=56655&folder=INBOX&isSeen=false&x=96995471
Juan Gonzalez
New York labor leader Dennis Rivera in shady Puerto Rico union deal
Friday, February 29th 2008, 4:00 AM
SEIU chief Dennis Rivera helped get Puerto Rico teachers union ousted so he could hijack members, critics charge. Dabin for News
SEIU chief Dennis Rivera helped get Puerto Rico teachers union ousted so he could hijack members, critics charge.
In what some call a shameful betrayal of solidarity, powerhouse New York labor leader Dennis Rivera has joined Puerto Rico's governor in a stunning attempt to break the island's largest union.
Eight days ago, the Puerto Rico Federation of Teachers, which represents 40,000 teachers, paralyzed island public schools with a strike.
The teachers, who earn top wages of $26,000 a year, had worked for 30 months without a contract. Union leaders were furious that Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila imposed new working conditions last year, decertified the union in January and suspended its dues checkoff.
The governor's draconian actions came after the union's membership voted in November to authorize a strike. Since 1998, Puerto Rico's government workers have not been allowed to strike.
While the clash between the teachers' militant leaders and the government was grabbing the headlines, Rivera was maneuvering to snatch control of the teachers for his Service Employees International Union.
Top labor leaders here and in Puerto Rico say Acevedo Vila gave Rivera, a close friend and a vice president of the 1.6-million member SEIU, a green light last year to oust the teachers federation and replace it with a newly formed labor group, the Union of Puerto Rican Teachers.
That new union is a subsidiary of the Puerto Rico Teachers Association, a group that has long represented principals and supervisors at island public schools.
In January, Rivera and Aida Diaz, president of the principals group, announced that the principals were affiliating with SEIU and their new subsidiary would demand an election to oust the Federation of Teachers.
The principals and supervisors, in effect, created a new union for their subordinates. What they didn't say was that they had the backing of the governor in this union-raiding scheme.
"The governor told Dennis, 'It's essentially yours to take,'" said one source who claims he was at a meeting in late December between top island union leaders, the governor and Rivera.
This week, El Diario-La Prensa reported that Rivera and Acevedo Vila also met in September at a San Juan restaurant to discuss the teachers union as well as possible financial backing by SEIU for the governor.
"That's a total fabrication," Rivera said yesterday of the Diario story. "Did I meet with the governor of Puerto Rico in a public restaurant around August? Yes, I've met with him maybe 20 times. Did I offer him donations in any way, shape or form? Absolutely not."
Rivera also denied any talks with the governor about a campaign by SEIU to become the bargaining agent for Puerto Rico's teachers.
ACEVEDO VILA'S office did not respond yesterday to a request for comment. The governor flatly denied to Puerto Rico reporters this week that he attended any meeting with Rivera to discuss financial support.
A few days after Rivera and the principals' union held their press conference, the government of Puerto Rico decertified the teachers federation. Acevedo's education secretary has ruled that the federation will not be permitted to run in any new elections for a union to represent the teachers.
In Puerto Rico, there is a long history of antagonism between independent unions, like the teachers and the electrical workers, and the labor organizations connected to the AFL-CIO or the new Change to Win federation, of which SEIU is a part.
Too many U.S.-based unions operate in an arrogant and colonialist fashion, the independents say.
What they never expected was to see the most influential Puerto Rican labor leader in the U.S. treat them just like those old Washington labor leaders have done for so long.
jgonzalez@nydailynews.com
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