Education
Few issues strike home for working families as much as education for their children. To be equipped for life, every child needs and deserves high-quality education that is available to all—from early childhood through college. For schools to work, educators must have the support and resources they need to succeed and school buildings must be well-equipped and well-maintained. Our schools must serve all children, and comprehensive services and supports must be in place for students with the greatest needs. All students should have access to higher education and assistance paying for it so they are not barred from college or saddled with impossible debt when they leave.
Public schools and public school teachers have been under attack in recent years—from widespread efforts to shift public school funding to private school voucher programs, to attempts to privatize public schools, to moves by governors and state legislators to take bargaining rights from teachers and other school personnel. These attacks are designed to serve the 1 percent—CEOs who can profit from privatized systems and the wealthiest families—at the expense of the 99 percent of students who deserve the best.
More about this issue:
As NYC continues it's phased reopening, we urge elected officials keep in mind America's Five Economic Essentials:
Keep front-line workers safe and secure.
Keep workers employed and protect earned pension checks.
Join the United Federation of Teachers and the NYC Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO for a virtual fair for NYC high school students to explore careers in union jobs.
Each and every day of this crisis, union members on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak are bravely going to work, putting their health and lives on the line for their fellow New Yorkers.
Last month, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo passed an executive order which limited court operations to essential matters. Additionally, the Chief Administrative Judge of New York State issued a memo, effective March 16th, with updated protocols for trial courts in the Unified Court System.
On behalf of the New York City labor movement at the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis, I’d like to extend thanks to United States Senator Charles Schumer for his tireless work on the stimulus bill.
Today, we mark the 109th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, a catastrophic event in which 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women, were killed as a direct result of abhorrent working conditions and woefully insufficient workplace safety standards.
(Updated 5/11/20) The COVID-19 pandemic remains an extraordinarily challenging situation, with New York City workers, as always, on the front lines of the crisis. The labor movement is rising in solidarity to meet those challenges.