CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION THREATENS STRIKE AND THEN MAYOR AGREES TO FULLY REMOTE LEARNING WHILE MULGREW HAS A PETITION

A tale of two cities:

First Chicago from their local CBSTV news:

CHICAGO (CBS) — The Chicago Public Schools are expected to announce a plan for remote learning for all of the Chicago Public Schools system to start the 2020-2021 school year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement is expected on Wednesday, a source told CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov.

That news came after an announcement that the Chicago Teachers Union planned to hold an emergency House of Delegates meeting early next week to discuss a possible strike vote, in an effort to pressure CPS into starting the school year with remote learning.

An unnamed source also confirmed to Kozlov the that union had planned to convene its House of Delegates next week to discuss a process led by rank and file members to take a strike vote to demand remote learning at CPS in the fall.

Now NYC where we have a petition:

School building reopening plans must meet safety standards

Dear UFT Member,

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s current plan for reopening school buildings does not meet the safety standards our children and school staff need.

With lives in the balance, we believe that public school educators in New York City should not return to school buildings unless there are adequate protocols and procedures in place to ensure the safety and health of our school communities.

Tell Mayor de Blasio that his plan must include critical health and safety measures.

Sign the petition

The UFT worked with the city to develop many of the safety standards included in the reopening proposal, but the mayor’s current plan falls short.

For school buildings to reopen, school communities need:

Voluntary testing for all students and school-based staff returning for in-person instruction.

A rolling testing regimen in every school community for adults and student volunteers to identify those infected with the virus but asymptomatic.

The results of these tests should be available within 24 hours.

A dedicated group of contact tracers to investigate who else has been exposed when an adult or a student in a school contracts the virus.

A school nurse in every school building.

Evidence that the protections and procedures outlined in the plan have been implemented, including the testing and upgrading of ventilation systems, and the necessary staff and supplies to deep clean the buildings every night.

Without these protections in place, staff and students — and the families they go home to at night — will not be safe from the coronavirus.

Add your name to the petition

Please sign the petition to affirm your agreement with this approach.

Stay healthy and safe.

Sincerely,

Michael Mulgrew

All of you can sign but I will not be signing as I will not affirm that I am in agreement with this approach!

Which mayor, Lightfoot in Chicago or de Blah blah in NYC, is worried about their teachers union? I'll give you a hint, it isn't de Blasio.

When are the UFT members in NYC going to say enough is enough and demand real union action? 

Militancy really works. Don't worry about the anti-human rights Taylor Law. There are parts of the DOE documents for fall reopening that can be used legally to stay out. They are almost asking for a sickout. I'll explain in a future post.