Greetings from the Burgh folks, where the air quality is once again the worst in the nation – thanks to US Steel.
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NAACP Tries to Break Oakland Teacher’s Strike
In Oakland, more than 3,000 teachers have been on strike for more than a week.
This week, high-stakes standardized testing is occurring in Oakland, and city officials have been arguing that the strike could interfere with funding formulas. Now, the local NAACP is calling on the teachers’ union to end the strike.
“We strongly urge the OEA to reconsider its decision to continue to strike at such a critical time in the school year,” Oakland NAACP President Cynthia Adams said in a statement. “As an educator in OUSD for over 35 years, I have seen the devastating effects of learning disruption on our students. Currently, students are taking exams, preparing for college and other important activities and need the support of their teachers and community to finish their school year strong.”
Many parents, though, have continued to get the back of the union.
“‘It’s really tough having kids home, and having our routine change,’ Sarah Wright-Schreiberg, a mother of three children at Thornhill Elementary told the Mercury News. ‘But the fact that it’s hard should be a reminder to parents of how vital these teachers are in our lives.'”
For more, check out the Mercury News.
Florida Unions Sue to Stop DeSantis “Paycheck Protection” Bill
In Florida, educators are suing in federal court to stop the implementation of SB256, which strips unions of their right to collect dues automatically from public employees’ paychecks.
The educators argue that the law violates already existing and binding collective agreements. Additionally, they argue that the law violates the 1st amendment’s freedom of association provisions since Florida allows public employees to have wages automatically deducted from their paychecks to help charitable organizations.
The Florida Education Association is arguing in court that SB256 was based in retaliation for teachers’ activism against the right-wing policies of Governor DeSantis.
“We, as educators in Florida, exercise our constitutional rights, and for doing so we have faced political retribution by the governor of this great state,” said FEA President Andrew Spar. “Gov. DeSantis has made it clear that he is targeting educators because we exercise our constitutional right to speak out against attempts by this governor and others to stymie the freedom to learn and to stifle freedom of thought.”
For more, check out the entire lawsuit here.
Rail Strike Shuts Down Weekend Vacations in the UK
In the United Kingdom, two different unions in the UK, Aslef and RMT, go out on 24-hour strikes on back-to-back days. The strikes will effectively cripple most of the commuter and passenger services throughout the country.
The strikes are part of a roving series since last fall as the conservative government of the United Kingdom demands concessions from railroad workers.
The railroad workers union, Aslef, says that the roving strikes will continue until the government makes reasonable progress at the bargaining table.
“We’ve neither had hide nor hair from the government that are meant to be facilitating and aiding these talks,” general secretary of Aslef, Mick Whelan told the Guardian. “They talk a good game, they don’t actually engage; they haven’t taken any ownership of this process as far as we’re concerned.”
For more, check out the Guardian.
Alright, yinz, we will have more later today in our special edition of our Writers’ Guild Strike.
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See Yinz later,
Melk
