Strike Vote Deferred!

It is with a great sense of relief that I report the deferment of Boston's teacher strike vote. As of last night, there had been no progress in talks. So, today, on a day full of messy weather and apprehensions, the BTU membership arrived at the union hall. Outside, there were cameras everywhere. We were not allowed in without Union ID. As soon as I stepped into the hall, I saw an assembled mass of teachers-- up to a couple thousand all in one room!

I was all ready to make a speech about loving our profession and demonstrating a reluctance to stop doing our jobs. However, when President Stutman reported the status of negotiations, it became clear that there there had been progress. The district had given in on class sizes and principals' rights to fire teachers at will. There were murmurs of nervousness at that announcement.

Soon, we debated whether or not to defer our strike motion. I knew, at this point, that nobody from our school was going to vote for a strike, but our membership was deeply divided. We heard points of view from both sides. At one point, one member compared our struggle to civil rights in the 1960's. Anyone who knows anything about the Civil Rights movement should understand that to compare it with a labor dispute is to belittle the significance and hardship of that period in American history. The irreverence of that argument raised my ire, and I pointed out that the two were not even close to being the same thing. In the end, however, common sense prevailed in at least 51% of the teachers. Despite having to re-vote twice, and emotions running high, the motion to defer a strike vote until February 28 passed with a simple majority.

I had gone in there confident that we would have to strike the next day. What a relief to find that prayers had been answered regarding two important issues and that we could continue to do our jobs.

On another note, according to our lawyer, it appears we are going to sue the school department for violating our civil rights by banning discussion of a strike. That's politics, I'm afraid.