Staff at Bronx charter wants UFT representation

Educators at AECI attend a meeting on Jan. 12 to sign a union petition and discuss their hopes for the school.

Seventeen teachers and pedagogical staffers at the New York City Charter HS for Architecture, Engineering and Construction Industries in the South Bronx signed union authorization cards in January requesting representation by the UFT.

“The union is really a labor of love for me,” said Lynn Harrison, an English teacher.

Harrison, one of 17 teachers to sign cards, said she wants to remain at the school for her career, “and I think the union will help us to have a voice and have our voice be heard.

“I love the democratic aspect of a union,” Harrison said.

On the morning of Jan. 13, Harrison and other teachers brought a petition to their principal informing him that they had formed a union at the school “to better meet the needs of our students as well as create an environment of trust and community building.”

“As a history teacher, instead of just reading about unions, we’re forming one, creating it and shaping it as we go along,” said John Carlos Benros. “Many of us work long hours and invest too much not to have job security,” he said, adding that it “adds a level of professionalism to the workplace to have a union.”

Simultaneously, the UFT filed a formal petition with AECI’s board of trustees and notified the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) that AECI teachers are seeking union recognition.

If AECI’s board of trustees does not recognize the union as the bargaining representative for educators at the school within 30 days, the UFT can ask PERB to certify the results on the basis of the authorization cards.

Lisette Velazquez, an English teacher, said, “Our principal is hard-working and respects us. But he’s only one person going to the board (of trustees). With support from us, it can only help. I think with the backing of all the teachers, not being afraid to speak up as one united voice, it can only be better. It can improve the quality of life for instructors and students. We’re making history, building a school from the ground up and bringing in a union.”

AECI opened in the fall of 2008 and currently serves approximately 240 students in grades 9 and 10. The school employs 17 teachers, a guidance counselor, a social worker, a dean of student culture, a principal, a business manager and four support staffers.

The school’s mission is to provide an integrated, rigorous academic and career preparatory learning environment that provides students with a foundation to pursue a path leading to college or a career in the construction industry. The school day has extended hours and students also attend programs on weekends and during the summer. It is slated to move into Afred E. Smith HS in the Bronx in September.

It is slated to move into the Alfred E. Smith HS in the Bronx in September.

AECI is run by Victory Schools, a for-profit educational management company based in New York City. Now in its second year of operation, none of the original teachers from its first year remains at the school, which contributes to an atmosphere where faculty members are afraid to voice their opinions.

The UFT represents educators at 12 other charter schools, including Merrick Academy in Queens, which is also managed by Victory Schools.