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THE CHIEF-LEADER welcomes letters from its readers for publication. Union Under Attack Union Under Attack To the Editor: I wish to alert readers of The Chief to a vicious attack on the Federation of Puerto Rican Teachers (FMPR), a public-service workers union. All public-worker unions need to respond and show solidarity with this union that is under attack by the Puerto Rican government. They decertified the union and forced them to strike. Delegates from the United Federation of Teachers and the Professional Staff Congress have passed strong resolutions in support of the teachers. Juan Gonzalez reported in his column in the Daily News of Feb. 29 that the SEIU International Vice President Dennis Rivera sabotaged the FMPR strike by meeting privately with Anibal Acevedo Vilá, Puerto Rico's Governor. The meeting was to hatch a plan for Dennis Rivera and the SEIU to destroy the FMPR, the union democratically chosen by the rank and file to represent them. Gonzalez called this "a shameful betrayal of solidarity ... powerhouse New York labor leader Dennis Rivera has joined Puerto Rico's governor in a stunning attempt to break the island's largest union." FMPR is an independent union representing 44,000 members, 80 percent of whom are women, and is the largest union in Puerto Rico. They went on strike on Feb. 21 in defiance of Law 45, the Puerto Rican version of the vicious Taylor Law, outlawing strikes by public-sector workers, that was used against TWU Local 100 during its strike. The FMPR had attempted, for 29 months, to negotiate a new contract with the Puerto Rican Government when the government decertified the union on Jan. 8. The teachers were demanding better working conditions, including reduction in class sizes, adequate teaching materials, and improvements in facilities for students. They said "No" to privatization of public schools and "No" to charter schools and demanded a wage increase. (Their last increase was in 1996.) There was a lot of support for the strike from students and parents and from Puerto Rico's unions. In ten days on the picket lines, dozens of strikers were criminalized and brutalized by the Puerto Rican Police, which deployed its shock force against the peaceful picketers, mostly women. Criminal charges were brought against at least four teachers. On March 5, the FMPR held a workers and delegates assembly at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, P.R. Over 10,000 teachers came to cast their vote on the tentative agreement reached by the union and the government. The majority voted to postpone the strike and demanded that the PR government uphold its end of the agreement. Where does the FMPR stand now? The union is still decertified. The frame-up charges against all strikers are not resolved, including the four teachers with phony criminal charges for participating in the daily pickets and the 17 teachers suspended from work in Utuado. The government promised that there will be no retaliation against the workers for joining the picket lines or for violating Law 45; that charter schools will not be introduced; that facilities will be repaired; that teaching materials will be supplied by the Department of Education; that class sizes will be reduced, and that the teachers will receive a raise. These promises must be enforced! VP Rivera is just following the same policies of SEIU President Andy Stern, which is suicide for the union and for working-class solidarity. VP Rivera's conduct is similar to strikebreaking and is a blot on the historic tradition of 1199, one of the most progressive and respected unions in the country. New York City workers had to struggle, sacrifice, and strike against the government before it became legal to organize hospital workers. It would be an act of solidarity if every public-worker union followed the example of New York UFT and PSC (CUNY) and passed resolutions in support of the FMPR. An injury to one is an injury to all! MIKE GIMBEL
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