One of the country’s largest teacher unions is authorizing its members to strike if their schools plan to reopen without adequate security measures amid the global pandemic.
The American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1.7 million school employees, issued a resolution on Tuesday saying it will support any local chapter that decides to strike over reopening plans.
By giving their blessing, the union also offers local chapters access to their financial and legal resources as they navigate to return to the classroom. Union officials said they will provide legal, communications and personnel support to local chapters voting for the strike.
Although the measure says that strikes should be seen only as a “last resort,” it lists the conditions the organization wants to be met for schools to reopen. He says buildings should reopen only in areas with lower virus rates, and only if schools require masks, update ventilation systems, and make changes to separate students.
In announcing the move, the union president criticized President Donald Trump for pressuring schools to reopen even as the virus continues to rise. Randi Weingarten called Trump’s response “chaotic and catastrophic,” saying he has left teachers in fear.
“We will fight on all fronts for the safety of our students and their educators,” said Weingarten. “But if the authorities do not protect the safety and health of those we represent and serve, as our executive council voted last week, nothing is off the table.”
Union leaders approved the resolution on Friday, but announced it Tuesday at the group’s convention, which comes online amid the pandemic.
The country’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association, said separately that its members will do “whatever it takes” to protect students.
“No one wants to see students in the classroom more than educators, but when it comes to their safety, we are not ready to take any options off the table,” group president Lily Eskelsen Garcia said in a statement.
For weeks, Trump has lobbied for a complete reopening of the nation’s schools. Last week, he acknowledged that some schools may need to delay a return to in-person instruction, but he is still asking Congress to retain virus relief in the future for schools that don’t reopen.
Some of the nation’s largest public school districts are starting the school year online, including in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Houston.
The Chicago Teachers Union, which clashed with the city over its reopening plan, said Tuesday it does not rule out a work stoppage.
“It is high time that our nation’s educators come together and fight collectively for the common good, up to and including strikes to improve social and economic inequalities at the root of the consequences of this insidious virus,” said the union vice president, Stacy. Davis Gates said in a statement.
Davis Gates said any security strike would include broader demands to support front-line workers, provide broadband access to all students, ensure universal health care, and obtain “a strong commitment from public officials to protect lives. of blacks and browns, whose neighborhoods are disproportionately carrying the death and disease burden of COVID-19. “
In Massachusetts, nurses represented by the Boston Teachers Union are planning a sit-in at City Hall on Wednesday about the city’s reopening plan. Nurses order rapid tests at schools to identify COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. They also want more protective equipment for nurses and teachers and air quality assessments in school buildings, among other measures.
In Ohio’s largest district, some 2,700 Columbus City Schools educators had previously signed a letter asking leaders to start the fall period online, with the union arguing that the stakes “are too high for experiments. “
They got their wish Tuesday when the district announced that it will start the year with virtual learning for all students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
For other districts planning to reopen, the federation’s demands for security may be difficult to meet. The union says schools should open only in areas where the infection rate among those tested for the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, is less than 5% and where the transmission rate is less than 1%. He also says that local authorities should have plans to close schools if cases increase.
Along with the mask requirements, the union is also lobbying schools to keep people 6 feet away, to keep buildings and buses clean, and to make accommodations for teachers at increased risk of health problems if they contract COVID-19.
For many schools, more funds will be needed to reopen safely, the union said. He estimates that the average school will need at least $ 1.2 million, which amounts to $ 116 billion across the country. The resolution says that Trump and Senate Republicans “have failed to negotiate and pass a new stimulus bill to address the vital resources necessary for the reopening of our schools.”
The latest stimulus proposal from Republicans in the White House and Senate includes $ 105 billion for schools and colleges, although part of the money is only for schools that reopen for classroom classes. In May, the Democrat-led House included $ 100 billion for schools, none of which was limited to those teaching locally, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said it is needed. even more money.
In his speech, Weingarten said that teachers want schools to reopen. Children need in-person instruction, he said, adding that remote instruction “cannot replace it.” But she said teachers need to know that they will stay safe.
Before Trump began putting pressure on schools to reopen, he said, a union survey found that their members felt comfortable coming back if the proper safeguards were put in place.
“Now they are scared and angry,” he said. “Many are resigning, withdrawing, or writing their wills.”
Along with the strikes, the union said it will fight unsafe reopening plans through lawsuits and labor complaints. The Florida union chapter filed a lawsuit last week trying to block the state’s plan to reopen schools, which the lawsuit called “reckless and insecure.”
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Associated Press writer Kantele Franko in Columbus, Ohio contributed to this report.
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