Harlem charter teachers choose the UFT

Teachers at Opportunity Charter School show their unity.

Jacqueline Scales, a math teacher, makes a point during an organizing meeting.

After a 10-week organizing effort, teachers at the Opportunity Charter School in West Harlem announced on May 10 that they have chosen the UFT as their exclusive collective-bargaining agent.

A majority of nonmanagerial employees at the 400-student school have signed union authorization cards, and the UFT on May 10 filed a formal petition for union recognition with the school’s board of trustees on their behalf.

The board has 30 days to recognize the union, or the UFT can ask the Public Employment Relations Board — the entity that governs labor relations in the public sector in New York State — to certify the bargaining unit on the basis of the authorization cards.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew welcomed the educators into the UFT on May 13 and praised their dedication to their students.

“The teachers at Opportunity Charter School are committed to ensuring that their students receive the best possible education,” Mulgrew said. “By forming a union, these teachers have shown that they are committed to having a collective voice in creating a great learning environment. We are proud to welcome them into the UFT.”

According to Nayomi Reghay, in her third year teaching 10th-grade English at the school, lack of teacher voice was one of the main reasons she and her colleagues decided to organize.

“Teachers aren’t really being heard at our school,” Reghay said. “We have an amazing staff. We could be so much stronger if there was mutual respect and mutual regard for teachers in the school.”

She said a union was necessary “to ensure our right to speak up for what’s best for us and best for our students.”

The UFT now represents educators and other staff at 15 charter schools. The union operates two of those by itself and one in tandem with Green Dot Schools.

Opportunity opened in the fall of 2004 and serves grades 6-12. It is located at 240 West 113th St.