For Immediate Release
UFT goes to PERB for KIPP AMP teachers
Feb 13, 2009 3:58 PM
The UFT petitioned the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) on Feb. 13 to formally recognize the teaching staff at the KIPP AMP Academy in Brooklyn as a collective bargaining unit. The move comes after administrators at KIPP failed to recognize the teachers within the state’s 30-day deadline and in the midst of a campaign by school administrators to threaten and intimidate teachers and parents.
Sixteen of the 19 teachers at KIPP AMP have signed union authorization cards asking to be represented by the UFT. Their organizing committee notified the school’s two co-principals on Jan. 13 that they were seeking union representation to secure a stronger voice in their school and a more collaborative workplace.
“The UFT has repeatedly pledged to work cooperatively with KIPP, and we have sought meetings to discuss moving forward,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten. “Rather than meet with us, however, the administrators at the school have engaged in a series of threatening actions against the teaching staff. They also let the 30-day state deadline pass without recognizing the staff’s intentions. We are really disappointed that neither the initial thoughts expressed by management about working together nor the KIPP motto of team and family extend to the hardworking and dedicated teachers of the school.”
State law allows workers such as those at KIPP AMP to legally unionize because a majority of teachers have signed union check-off cards. Once employees go public with their intentions to organize, state law provides for a 30-day period in which the management of the company or organization can voluntarily recognize the desire of the workers to organize. Now that the 30-day period has ended, PERB can step in and recognize the UFT as the designated bargaining agent for the KIPP teachers and order KIPP to begin negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.
On Feb. 11, the union filed improper practice charges against school administrators for holding “captive audience” meetings with teachers in an effort to intimidate them and interfere with their unionization efforts. In those meetings, school officials pressured teachers into withdrawing their bid for a union and said their benefits and pensions were in jeopardy. A similar complaint was filed by the union on Feb. 3 after similar meetings were held with both teachers and students.
In addition, an effort by teachers and parents to form a PTA on Thursday night was met with stiff resistance by school administrators who first denied the group a room to meet, and then had an outside group enter and disrupt the meeting until it had to be abruptly ended.
“These are terrific teachers, and they couldn’t be more committed to their school community or their students,” said Weingarten. “They just want a voice and respect and support, and they don't understand why KIPP is refusing to acknowledge that. This is a real test about whether KIPP respects the people who have made their schools great.”
“We look forward to negotiating innovative provisions tailored to the KIPP schools and the needs of the kids and the staff,” continued Weingarten. “That really should be the next step, not litigation and delay.”
The UFT currently sponsors three unionized charter schools, the newest of which is a Bronx High School run in collaboration with Green Dot, a successful and labor-friendly charter school operator and educational reform organization based in Los Angeles. The UFT also represents educators at several other successful charters in New York City, including two of the other three KIPP schools.
