Teachers stand together

Teachers in the Twin Cities who have voted to strike are sending a message to the bosses. Plus, sign up for a class for union stewards and take a look at REI's anti-union podcast.

🪧 Twin Cities teachers unions vote to strike together

For the first time, members of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59 and Saint Paul Federation of Educators have voted to authorize a strike at the same time!

In 1970, Minneapolis public school teachers walked off the job in an illegal work stoppage which led to the passage of the Minnesota Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA), a law that provides the right to bargain and strike. Union leaders say they hope they’ll be able to settle with the districts without having to strike. The teachers voting overwhelmingly in favor of striking are sending a clear message to the school districts: they’ve sacrificed enough and are still willing to go the distance to fight for students. But will the districts listen?

Nat A-L @AndersonLippert

Never been prouder of @MFT59 and @SPFE28. We are going to win.

Mark J. Westpfahl @MarkJWestpfahl

Unprecedented numbers coming out of the @MFT59.

SPFE Local 28 @SPFE28

Saint Paul educators authorized a strike against @SPPS_News. More than 78 percent voted yes to strike. A strike date, if necessary, will be announced at a later time. #StPaulStudentsDeserve #timeisnow

Michael Moore (@unionadvocate) with St. Paul’s Union Advocate reports on the impending strike:

“I want our district to stop saying that they value their educators and actually do it,” said René Myers, an intervention specialist at Hazel Park Preparatory Academy who voted “yes” to authorizing a strike. “I want our district to value our knowledge and expertise, and actually support us in our efforts instead of dismissing us and saying they know better.”

The unions held a press conference this morning you can watch here. MFT 59 president Greta Callahan called for any parents who are worried to continue pressuring the district to listen and value educators who are fighting for students.

“For decades, we’ve watched our district leaders choose not to invest in our students and schools,” said Callahan. “We can no longer see our districts at the local level being run like a corporate top-down model where all those people at the ground floor–the educators, the families, the students–have zero say in how our schools are being run.”

Check out some graphics from MFT that have more details on their demands:

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🚨Attention union stewards!

Sign up for a steward training class with the Labor Education Service. More information below. ⬇️

Registration is open until 4pm February 28.

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📣 Actions speak louder than words

Tell us you’re anti-union without telling us you’re anti-union.

In media, branding, and social movements, language plays an important role. Companies adopt social justice language in order to craft a progressive image. However, behind the scenes, they continue fighting to protect the status quo. And we can see right through the corporate agenda of companies like Starbucks and REI. Writer Alex N. Press (@alexnpress) offers a critique on REI’s script in the podcast made for their anti-union website.

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💰 There would’ve been no budget surplus without frontline workers…

For the St. Cloud Times, Imani Cruzen (@imanicruzen) reported on Minnesota lawmakers making an appearance in St. Cloud last week and their proposed $1,500 payments for frontline workers.

Rep. Dan Wolgamott @RepWolgamott

I’ve co-authored legislation to provide 667,000 frontline workers with bonus checks of up to $1500. Let’s get this done to support the men and women who risked their physical health to keep Minnesota functioning throughout the pandemic. #mnleg

Thanks for reading. We are each other’s harvest.