Saturday, October 03, 2020

MAJOR TEACHERS UNION WINS GRIEVANCE THAT SCHOOL BUILDINGS ARE UNSAFE TO WORK IN

I have been arguing since March that because UFT members are contractually entitled to a safe work environment (Article 10F), there is nothing to fear if people stay out of unsafe buildings. A major teachers union has agreed with that position and filed a grievance on the matter. That union is not the UFT, of course, but the Chicago Teachers Union.

The Chicago Public Schools started the 2020-2021 school year remotely for students and most teachers but forced certain CPS clerks to return to school buildings. The CTU immediately grieved that the schools were not safe and an arbitrator issued a decision yesterday siding with the union. This is part of the email from CTU announcing the ruling:

The arbitrator’s ruling that CPS buildings are “not safe and healthful” was built on extensive evidence of grave deficiencies in school buildings, 60 percent of which have no central HVAC system. Less than 5 percent of schools have any air purification system installed, 50 percent have non-functional critical components of their air circulation systems, and only 9 percent of CPS schools have air filtration systems that meet public health recommendations for COVID-19 safety (i.e., MERV 13 or portable HEPA filters).

I don't know what the statistics for buildings with MERV 13 filters are for NYC but I gather they have not been installed in most schools.

Here is a major part of the Chicago ruling:

  SUMMARY FINDINGS AND ORDER

This expedited arbitration proceeding arose from an August 21, 2020 Union grievance asserting that compulsory, full-time work inside CPS school buildings violates Article 14-1 of the parties’ labor contract, which states: “14-1. Safe and Healthful Working Conditions. Bargaining unit employees shall work under safe and healthful conditions.” A hearing was conducted remotely on September 15 and 16, 2020, and the parties have submitted post-hearing briefs which have been reviewed and considered in this ruling.

For the reasons stated in a separate Opinion, I make the following findings:

1. Reporting to work inside CPS school buildings increases the danger of infection by COVID-19, an airborne, highly communicable, deadly, and still not fully understood disease;

2. The only way to eliminate the risk of COVID-19 infection and death is for School Clerks, School Clerk Assistants, and Technology Coordinators to work remotely;

3. Although the Board has made efforts to mitigate the risk, subjecting these employees to increased risk of COVID-19 infection for work that can be performed remotely does not fulfill CPS’s contractual promise that its employees work in “safe and healthful conditions”;

4. On this record, it cannot be determined that each school building is safe and healthful to work in and in accordance with the Precautionary Principle, it is better to err on the side of allowing remote work, where feasible, since the extent of the inherently hazardous conditions presented by COVID-19 in each school building is unknown.

5. Allowing these employees to work remotely, where it is feasible to do so, properly balances employer and employee needs that are necessary to fulfill CPS’s contractual promise to provide a safe and healthful workplace for its employees.

Based on the foregoing, I find insufficient evidence that the Board’s school buildings are safe and healthful for these employees to work in; that the Board does not sufficiently mitigate the risk to these employees by directing them to work full time inside school buildings when certain duties can be performed remotely; and that CPS has therefore violated Article 14-1.

Although I think the CTU did right by their members by filing this grievance while the UFT just dithers and delays, the CTU didn't pull all of their members out of unsafe buildings, and one teacher who worked in a building to distribute supplies to students died from COVID-19.

Once again, from the CTU email:

The Union also learned this week of COVID-19 cases at a total of four schools — Lane Tech High School, and Canty, Mt. Greenwood and Funston elementary schools.

Funston teacher Olga Quiroga had gone into her building just before the beginning of the school year and worked through Sept. 10 to help distribute supplies to families and complete other duties. Her family took her to the emergency room on September 11. She passed away on Thursday, Oct. 1.

“It’s tragic that this ruling — which irrevocably establishes that CPS schools are not yet safe to reopen — has come too late to have helped protect Olga’s life or protect other workers from COVID infection,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said. “We expect CPS to move immediately to protect the rest of our members in buildings by allowing them to begin working remotely today, as those workers did effectively from March through August.”

In NYC, we have different contractual language and it might be better to head right to court. We haven't done that. We do have language from the Chapter Leader Handbook (I believe based on arbitration precedent) that allows UFT members to take what is called self-help to disobey an administrator's orders under certain very limited conditions.

This is what we said on the matter in March and it is worth repeating again:

If any insane administrator questions someone [refusing to go into an unsafe building], I consulted the UFT Chapter Leader Handbook about self-help. Self-help is when an employee is insubordinate by defying an order from a supervisor. Normally, a teacher should obey an order that violates the Contract and then grieve.  However, the Handbook provides three justifications for an employee to be insubordinate. Two of them apply to our current situation:

First, the employee has a reasonable belief that carrying out the order will endanger the employee's health.

Second, carrying out the order will threaten the safety of others.

Entering buildings that may have coronavirus would seem to apply to both justifications.

Please stay safe everyone and think long and hard before you enter any DOE building during the current COVID-19 pandemic until they are truly safe.

61 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew will after he negotiates the money for last spring break.

Anonymous said...

This sets a precedent.

Document what is in the school building, utilize the DOE rules of having any symptom and stay out of the buildings. No one is obligated to be inside unsafe buildings. Everyone is supposed to be provided with all the PPE they want, including a lab coat. It's simple. Stay out! Work remote!

Anonymous said...

The argument they will use is that the Uft agreed to these safety precautions.

Anonymous said...

A Bronx high school teacher's non-stop struggle as classrooms reopen: students taking off their masks. “I tell one, ‘Hey, put your mask on.’ I turn my head and boom, there’s another one maskless.” Defiant kids not removed despite DOE rule.
https://nypost.com/2020/10/03/nyc-teacher-struggles-to-keep-students-wearing-masks/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons via
@nypmetro

Anonymous said...

It’s a teacher’s worst nightmare in the age of COVID-19.

Misbehaving high school students take off their masks in class and dare anyone to stop them, a South Bronx English teacher told The Post.

“The virus is not real. That’s why my parents are sending me,” one student declared, the teacher said. Many kids call the virus “fake.”

Some students clown around, removing their masks and pretending to cough or sneeze: “They think it’s funny.”

Others complain “I can’t breathe” because they say their masks are too tight.

Each class has around 9 to 11 students in person and then another 30 or so remotely.

Having to enforce safety rules such as face coverings and social distancing is a constant battle, the teacher said.

“I’m telling one, ‘Hey, put your mask on.’ I turn my head and boom, there’s another one maskless.”

The teacher, who simultaneously live-streams lessons to students learning remotely, said rowdy kids in the room cause constant disruptions.

“You have to mute your mike because you’re yelling at kids,” the teacher said. “Repeatedly this week, I had to stop the lesson because kids took off their masks.”

The interruptions rob the students, both in class and at home, who want to learn, he said.

Despite assurances by Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza that students who refuse to wear masks will be sent home, administrators do not eject offenders, the teacher said.

“Nothing is happening. School safety is not removing them from the classroom,” he said.

Instead, administrators simply try to persuade students to comply.

In his school, students are assigned to the same classroom all day, while different subject teachers come and go. Kids may be left alone in the room for a minute or two during the transition.

“They get the freedom of that 90 seconds with no adult in the room, and they’re all over the place. They take their masks off. They’re close together having conversations. It’s a s–t show,” the teacher said.

Teens hate sitting at their desks all day, even for lunch when they are allowed to remove their masks for 20 minutes to eat. Some kids take longer than necessary on restroom visits. Or they just get up and leave the room, the teacher said.

“Even the well-behaved kids are really restless, but the kids with behavior issues are going bonkers,” he said.

The DOE said a school can request that a student be moved to all-remote learning after three “documented instances” of refusal to wear a mask, followed by efforts to educate the student, speaking with parents and working with school social workers.

“If, after three attempts, a student continuously refuses to wear a mask they will be transitioned to remote learning. We will not compromise on safety,” said spokesman Nathaniel Styer.

Anonymous said...

Keep paying dues.

Now we have documentation that safety guidelines are not being followed.
No masks
Coughing
Spitting
Students not being removed

Teachers? Uft? No comment.

Anonymous said...

You teachers keep going into the buildings. Whose fault is that?

Anonymous said...

10:58, Clearly you have trouble reading. A union had a labor contract and used it to grieve hazardous conditions and WON! We need a union, just not the UFT and Mulgrew.

Anonymous said...

10:58 would have us all drop out of the union and leave us at the mercy of the city.

Tom said...

@10:10 - I'm all for teachers making their own decisions on whether to go in or work remotely without resorting to calling them names - BUT - this teacher really needs to get a backbone. He's teaching live, and remotely and that's a problem that shouldn't be tolerated as it is already understood that's a non-starter, not to mention he claims it was 9-11 live, and 30 remote?

Next - if specific students are removing masks, he should be documenting each instance in anecdotals and emails to the Principal and the CL. His third email should be firm that he has made the required attempts to get the student to comply and student should be put on remote for the safety of the school. It can't be a D-75 school because the classes are too big. I highly doubt that a Principal would not respond to a specific documented safety issue.

I wondered if this story was even true - our kids were pretty shell-shocked this week and most of the classes were much smaller than 9-11 students live; the largest class was 6 and first thing we did, again, was discuss safety protocols. I made sure that anyone who expressed any interest in going remote was provided with step-by-step instructions for making the change. Most of those who attended were freshmen and they're still feeling out the teachers. My biggest issue was related to the room being very cold (colder than outside) because the heat is not on yet. If that teacher has lost control this early in the school year he really should think about switching to remote, one way or another.

Anonymous said...

Chicago has this shit virus in four schools and the union goes apeshit and wins. NYC has it in over 150 already and Mulgrew does nothing. Why do you teachers put up with it? What is your breaking point?

Anonymous said...

COME TO FIND: During the first week of in-person school, a NYC student attended class two days, then got symptoms + tested positive. Teachers found out a week later from the parents, not the DOH or ⁦DOE.

Others parents found out via today’s NY Post.

Tom said...

@11:00 - yes - teachers keep going into the buildings because that's where their jobs are. The biggest issues have to do with programming and the in-person teachers are not really affected by that. Some of you are saying that only 2 students have shown up, and that classrooms are empty - where exactly is the danger in that?

Tom said...

10:58 - We didn't have a single one of those issues at our school. But sure - if you are in one of the schools where things are out of compliance then you should definitely look into getting accommodations.

Anonymous said...

1117. What has the uft done?

Anonymous said...

Just respond to the facts...

Now we have documentation that safety guidelines are not being followed.
No masks
Coughing
Spitting
Students not being removed

Anonymous said...

Sheep? Suckers? After all this info, what do you plan on doing?

Anonymous said...

Hey Tom, You don’t believe the story? Have you ever taught in the Bronx? Three teachers have told me the exact same story. One is in Taft, another Roosevelt and the other in Evander Childs. All went to their APs and were told there was nothing they could do other than warning them not to do it again. The students then escalated the behavior and left the masks off entirely. One’s parent was called and he walked out of the building and didn’t return.

JP said...

So the answer here is to defend dues again...
Based on the NY Post article and the experience of almost every teacher...
Students are not wearing masks
When a teacher corrects one, several more do wrong
Spitting, coughing, sneezing is ongoing
Students are NOT being removed. What a surprise.
It sounds like an out of control situation to me

Does staff safety matter to any of you?
After I document every single time and nothing happens, then what?
It reminds me of what has happened since Mayor de Blasio came into office, fake grad rates and fake suspension rates.

https://nypost.com/2020/10/03/nyc-teacher-struggles-to-keep-students-wearing-masks/

Anonymous said...

Mayor-We are not seeing a problem in the public schools.

Ok, good luck sheep.

Anonymous said...

The uft is in bed with this guy, has done notuing to stop him, has agreed with everything.

The mayor of NYC, who was granted full control over schools by NYS, just announced that it’s NOT safe to go to school in 9 zip codes, but is encouraging kids to get 1 more day inside school before they close. This isn’t your gym experience, Mr. Mayor. Trust is irreparably broken

Tom said...

@12:19 - I said I wonderED - past tense. If you are in a room with out-of-control maskless students, you have a right to walk out if Administration refuses to remove the students. Even if you felt obliged to finish the day, like hell you should go back in the next day.

Tom said...

12:44 - you're the one who sounds like a sheep, or rather a troll. You were probably beaten down so bad that now you sit in your retirement chair hoping the current teachers fight the battles that you wish you'd had the balls to fight when you were in-service.

Anonymous said...

So de Blasio will close schools only in 9 zip codes on Wednesday? As if people don’t travel on subway and those zip codes can be contained?
NYC Mayor you are a total idiot and Mr. Mulgrew is just the same.

Tom said...

@12:36 - that is not the experience of "almost every teacher". After you document every single time and nothing happens you should call in sick in the next day with symptoms or find a doctor who will write you a note. Plenty of people have gotten notes based on anxiety or stress.

SL said...

Just came here to say if you come to James' blog several times a day to call teachers sheep, you're a sheep because it takes one to know one.

Oh, and please save your finger energy and don't tell me about how you don't pay dues, and you "refused" to go in - with permission from your principal. If that's you, you're so cool. Now please get a life.

Anonymous said...

According to the NY TIMES - Deblasio just announced all public schools and private schools(Yeshivas will be closed in the those 9 high 3% neighborhoods starting Monday. In addition. Other neighborhoods are being closely monitored. Yeshivas are closed anyway till October 12–because of the Succoth holiday stretch.

Anonymous said...

"They need one chance to connect with their teachers”. Translation: “lets send super spreaders into public schools”.

Anonymous said...

everyone seems to forget that high schools have students who travel into their neighborhood from other places -- many, many of our students live in these neighborhoods + we're immediately adjacent to several of these zip codes.

Anonymous said...

Correction from earlier NY Times report—all city schools in those 9 identified Zip Code areas will close Wednesday—not Monday—for an indefinite period—since it’s subject to Cuomo’s okay. Doesn’t make sense—why is it okay to open Monday and Tuesday and then close Wednesday—just like saying there’s a fire in that house—but will call 911 —a few days later.

Anonymous said...

Correction from earlier NY Times report—all city schools in those 9 identified Zip Code areas will close Wednesday—not Monday—for an indefinite period—since it’s subject to Cuomo’s okay. Doesn’t make sense—why is it okay to open Monday and Tuesday and then close Wednesday—just like saying there’s a fire in that house—but will call 911 —a few days later.

Anonymous said...

119 pm, im not retired, also not stupid enought to go in the petri dish like a sheep.

Sandy, many of us have used the term "sheep." Shelly comes on here all the time talking about uft betrayal. Hey, if you think your $1600 is well spent, you need to respond to hundreds of compalaints on here daily and tell them all how lucky they are.

eric said...

Hi Sandy,

Then why hasnt everyone gotten permission after refusing to go in? Why risk their health? They can't possibly be content or feel safe or feel happy. Why are people still complaining that they have full remote classes but are made to go to the building? Why still complaints about student behavior? Did you read the NY Post article? Why are pics still posted showing totally filthy classes?

eric said...

Oh, and why are they now paying nurses $200k a year in salary and benefits? And why are subs getting $300 a day plus $1000 bonus?

Anonymous said...

LOL. Principals were saying that they couldnt let teachers work remote withpout medical. If that guy did in early September, he is amazing. Seems like all the suckers got played.

Anonymous said...

Can anybody show me the DOE-UFT grading policy for remote students?

Anonymous said...

Yes, I pay $1600 to UFT. And I also pay $450 for the membership of United Club, which I have not flied with for 8 months. I spend my money left and right. I just don't know why other people could have such strong opinions about how I spend my money. By the way, I don't think UFT is useless, for they are responsive and helpful from time to time.

Anonymous said...

I'm not a sheep, I just pay dues so they can destroy me. De Blasio and UFT make announcements before having an actual well-thought out implementable plan- despite having ample time to do so. Repeatedly.

Anonymous said...

Michael Mulgrew is as desperate to salvage hybrid as his partner BdB, and he hopes this will stave off its full collapse. Pathetic. Is this where I ask why I'm paying dues?

Tom said...

2:19 - a petri dish? When there are 2-6 students in the classroom seated way across each other? Not every situation is the same. Are you afraid to pick up take-out, go to a store? No one in your home works onsite somewhere? Neither here nor there, you seem to think your choices give you license to call people sheep because they've decided to go in? Whatsamatta - you can't stand alone in your decision? Just like you feel the need to bring up Shelly. Like I said - cowardly sheep. That's you.

Anonymous said...

Does the uft Care?

Mark Treyger
For further context why 9 zip code strategy is inadequate: I taught in a Southern Brooklyn HS, NUHS, where students lived across the borough and even in the Bronx. I had colleagues who lived in Staten Island, Queens, & Manhattan. Today’s announcement has ripple effects across NYC

Tom said...

2:19 - a petri dish? When there are 2-6 students in the classroom seated way across each other? Not every situation is the same. Are you afraid to pick up take-out, go to a store? No one in your home works onsite somewhere? Neither here nor there, you seem to think your choices give you license to call people sheep because they've decided to go in? Whatsamatta - you can't stand alone in your decision? Just like you feel the need to bring up Shelly. Like I said - cowardly sheep. That's you.

Anonymous said...

Um, what happened to the most aggressive testing? Didn't mulgrew promise? I would ask for my dues back.

Anonymous said...

533, w4s said for months that teachers are cowards who will walk right into the petri dish. Obviously, you are one. 6 kids doesn't make it safe. How about the bus and train. How about poorly ventilated buildings? Broken wondows? No supply fans? How about the skyrocketing infection rate in many zip codes? Promise of the best testing which hasn't even started?

Anonymous said...

I am alone. That is why WE continue to get abused. How many times has James asked people to take a stand? Going into infected buildings, taking substandard contracts, passing every student, and paying the uft to do nothing...Great stand.

Anonymous said...

Lol. Going to the supermarket for food for 10 minutes is the same as going into a school for 7 hours when 30k doe members are remote? Is that your argument? Maybe you should ask permission to stay home. Or ask the uft for help.

Anonymous said...

Why is the title above that a union won a grievance and it wasn't the uft? Why no testing yet? Where is the positive post about how much the uft is doing for us? Why are you paying triple dues next check for money from 11 years ago with no interest that has eroded against inflation? Because they haven't earned the dues.

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't the uft ask if this is how nyc spends money?

Latest: Millions in nyc schools
contracts awarded for buses even if they're not running & for scoring guides for tests that may never be given https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2020/10/millio

Not will to die yet said...

What about that early retirement incentive?

Anonymous said...

ERI wouldn't be till next summer anyway at this point.

Tom said...

@6:30 - wow- you poor thing. Broken windows, no supply fans and train travel. Too bad for you that you work in such dilapidated conditions. STAY HOME. Nobody is forcing you to go into the buildings.

Tom said...

@6:44 - you're not even making any sense. You're the one complaining about working in the building, so why would someone who doesn't have an issue with it ask for permission to stay home? Do you even have an argument, or is insults for people who are going in all you have?

Tom said...

6:38 - you poor thing, all alone and abused. But there you are having to bring someone else's name into the discussion. I don't go into infected buildings with broken windows, no PPE, and out of control students. So you've allowed yourselves to be abused and yet you call other people sheep. LOL. Unlike you, I don't pass students who don't deserve to pass.

Anonymous said...

All alone? Read every post, read the complaints. Enjoy triple dues in 11 days. If you were referring to me, I don't go into any building.

Anonymous said...

Tom, not his real name, is mad because 30k of staff log on and chill from home and he is commuting and in the petri dish being watched by an AP, while paying $1600 to a corrupt union.

bronx northeast throgg native said...

We already know the answer: most teachers do not have a clue what goes on in the Bronx and WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO GET THROUGH A WEEK. FACTS!

Anonymous said...

As uft plays with us...Can't stop thinking about the tension between these comments. Mayor says schools need transition time to close down. Chancellor says city has been planning for this possibility all along.

Anonymous said...

Tom is full of shit. Probably a unity hack.

Tom said...

@9:01 - I guess "Anonymous" is YOUR real name. You sound like a clown. Why would I be mad because people are logging on. I had a choice and I chose to get off my a$$ ad go in. You seem mad because...well, who the hell knows why anyone would be mad at what other people choose to do that doesn't impact them in any way. But glad to see you publicly admit that you are just LAZY and "chilling" when you should be working. Grow up moron - it's people like you who give unions a bad name.

Tom said...

@9:44 - there are choices in life. Nobody is forced to work in chaotic environments. Does anyone even know how to write a resume and go an interview, or get a job with the union, or in training. Or will people just complain from now until they retire about how miserable they are (like @1:25). Very pathetic.

Tom said...

@1:25 - how does anyone going into the building affect YOU in any way. You're probably one of those who has accommodations for severe anxiety - always whining and in someone else's business.