------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- AFTER UNION CHALLENGES ANTI-LABOR LAW, AUTHORITIES PUT BUFFALO, N.Y. TEACHERS UNDER THE GUN By Beverly Hiestand Buffalo, N.Y. Nearly 3,800 Buffalo, N.Y., city teachers walked out of their classrooms and onto picket lines on Sept. 7 and again on Sept. 14. Their seriousness was measured by their knowledge that under the union-busting New York State Taylor Law each of them can be jailed and fined two days pay for every day they are not in school. Under this same repressive law the entire Buffalo Teachers Federation could also be fined. Despite attempts by the Board of Education and media to drive a wedge between teachers and school communities, polls reveal that support for teachers is strong. After one day out on the picket lines, the teachers had agreed to go back to work on Sept. 8 to show their willingness to continue negotiating and their desire to provide education for their students. Schools reopened Sept. 11 after marathon bargaining and a request from the Public Employees Relations Board. On Sept. 12, in a State Supreme Court hearing, Judge Kevin Dillon upgraded a temporary order barring a strike to a preliminary injunction. This injunction prohibits teachers from striking. However, on Sept. 14 the teachers again marched on picket lines after the Board of Education reportedly placed proposals on the table and then withdrew them. Again the union responded to a request by PERB to return to work while the two sides awaited a proposal by PERB mediators on Sept. 19. But on Sept. 18, BTF President Phil Rumore and three other union officers were forced to appear in State Supreme Court before Judge Dillon. They were arraigned on contempt of court charges. Dillon told the union leaders that he would only grant adjournment of the contempt charge if they would agree to abide by his injunction. After consultation with the executive board and attorneys, Rumore turned down the judge's ultimatum. The anger and determination of the teachers is also fueled by the fact that 10 years ago the BTF signed an agreement with the Board of Education that included a substantial wage increase. Later, after the teachers ratified the agreement, the Board of Education withdrew the proposal. The teachers union won decisions from the highest courts in the state ordering the board to give teachers their back pay. They even agreed to a smaller sum of money. But the board didn't meet its obligation to pay them by the beginning of this school year. Rumore, measuring the anger and frustration of his members towards the Board of Education, said in an article in the Sept. 10 Buffalo News, "I think most of us believe they are trying to break the union." WHY THEY WALKED The teachers voted to strike shortly before the school year began. The vote was held at a mass meeting of BTF members held at Kleinhan's Music Hall within days of the opening of school. At that meeting over 90 percent of the teachers voted to authorize a strike. The immediate cause of their job action was the fact that the teachers have been working without a contract for over 14 months. In addition, an unresolved issue at the bargaining table has reportedly been job security and benefits for active teachers and retirees. And the union is demanding the restoration of some of the educational programs for students that have been cut and the improvement of existing programs. In particular, the union is trying to restore art, music and physical education to the lower grades. These programs were cut years ago. Most importantly, the union is fighting to prevent the privatization of some of the student and family services currently provided by its members. It is negotiating professional training days for its teachers. Of great significance to the communities, the union is calling for reducing the size of classes that include children with special education needs so that teachers can enhance the quality of education for all the students in those classrooms. But the last straw that forced the teachers to walk out was the proposal by the Board of Education that teachers receive no pay increase for the first two years of a four-year contract and a 1 percent increase for each of the next two years. The Board of Education also proposed a cutback in healthcare payments for retirees and the newly hired. Administrators, along with teachers' aides, had already received a three-and-a-half-percent raise for three of the next four years. Teachers on the picket lines carried signs reading: "New multi-year contracts for all--but not for teachers. Why?" In an attempt to undermine the union, the Board of Education falsely claimed that city teachers are already overpaid compared to their peers throughout the region. In fact, studies reveal that the top pay scale in Erie County's larger suburbs is higher and teachers can reach it more quickly. SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS GROWS The teachers have remained unified and strong. Teacher Len Noworyta compared this strike to one by city teachers in 1974. In a Sept. 11 Buffalo News article Noworyta commented, "Our support is stronger this time. People are angry and they're sticking together." The same article pointed out that only 29 teachers crossed the picket line. The Board of Education and the Buffalo News tried to pit teachers and parents against each other. Unfortunately both walkouts were announced after many children were already on the bus to school. Rumore explained that negotiations had gone on all night long and the teachers had tried not to go out on strike if progress could be made at the bargaining table. And teachers on the picket lines blamed this situation on the Board of Education's refusal to bargain in good faith. Every one of the 16 teachers interviewed by the Sept. 11 Buffalo News expressed regret about having to walk out because of the impact on their students. And teachers on the picket lines explained that it is very common for them to spend significant amounts of their own money and time to help their students in this under-funded district. "I love these kids like I love my own," said Cynthia Cercone, a science teacher at Lafayette High School. "But I also feel undervalued and unappreciated." Yet in spite of all the bad-mouthing by the bosses and the media, polls reveal that the attempts to prevent community support for the teachers have not been successful. On the basis of years of experience parents have learned that the teachers--in spite of all the difficulties imposed on them by the Board of Education and the city and state-- have tried to do right by the children by winning smaller class sizes, better conditions, and improved cultural and athletic programs. This is revealed by the results of a poll conducted by Zogby International reported in the Sept. 17 Buffalo News. It revealed that 59 percent of Erie County respondents--from the city and the suburbs--thought that the teachers had legitimate complaints. In a smaller poll within the city, support for the teachers was even greater: 76 percent of the respondents said the teachers have legitimate complaints and 50 percent supported the strike. Some parents of students at School 39 have joined the picket lines in front of the school. A resident watching teachers picket across the street from her house told the News reporter, "I think they should be out striking. I think I should be here with them." TAYLOR LAW A FORMIDABLE OBSTACLE As positive as the public support is, teachers still face many obstacles. They are up against the fines and threats of jail from a union-busting judge. They have to build bridges to the children and parents of the large oppressed communities in Buffalo. It's a wake up call for the union to reorganize and reflect a more multinational leadership. Probably the most formidable obstacle the teachers face, however, is the New York State Taylor Law. This law violates the most basic right won and exercised by all non-public sector unions and by public sector unions in other states-- the right to withhold labor. This is a right that historically enabled the working class to win the eight-hour work day, an end to child labor, safer working places, a living wage and benefits too numerous to mention. Certainly, there are many allies--especially other public sector workers and the communities who use the services that these workers provide--who can be mobilized to overturn this repressive law once and for all. - END - (Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
