TEACHERS FOR CHOICE Demands of New York Teacher Unions

1-20-21

NY Teachers For Choice is releasing a list of 7 demands for the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), as well as their state-wide umbrella organizations and affiliates (ie AFT, NYSUT, NEA, et. al.). If these demands are met, we will delay the call in our first Resolution for a state-wide diversion of teacher union dues into an Emergency Health Protection Fund to defend educators against coercive medical mandates to keep our jobs. Currently it appears every New York Teacher Union is supporting coercive medical mandates for teachers to maintain employment.

That support must end.

Our demands are as follows:

(1) UFT President Michael Mulgrew needs to release a formal statement in support of CHOICE for teachers and students pertaining to Flu and COVID vaccinations, and AFT President Randi Weingarten must rescind her statement supporting forced vaccination of all in-person teachers. United Healthcare Workers Union 1199 has already released such a statement – read that here.

(2) NY Teacher Unions (specifically the UFT) must call for ALL CONTRACTS that govern in-school COVID testing to be made public. It is insane that educators must “consent” to a testing regime at their job while many of the public contracts governing the regime are illegally kept secret. Why is our union supporting secrecy?

(3) NY Teacher Unions (specifically the UFT) must end the threat of “unpaid leave” for staff who do not consent to in-school COVID testing. Since it is only 20% of staff and students being tested once a week it does NOT make schools “less safe” to have an opt-out option. Many school districts throughout New York are functioning this way right now, and so can NYC Schools.

(4) NY Teacher Unions (specifically the UFT) must stop supporting the removal of children from in-person learning if their parents choose to opt them out of in-school COVID testing.

(5) NY Teacher Unions must demand that principals, administrators, and supervisors cannot pressure staff or students whatsoever in regards to whether or not they ever receive either a Flu or COVID vaccination.

(6) Elementary students who are clearly upset when selected for random in-school COVID testing must not be tested. We have heard of NYC students selected for testing in school – with no parent accompanying them – breaking down into uncontrollable tears and even soiling themselves. This is child abuse, and NY Teacher Unions (specifically the UFT) must take a strong stance against such abusive practices by the DOE and their contractors.

(7) Teachers should receive paid time-off for any adverse reactions they experience from getting the COVID vaccine. We have already heard accounts from educators, in many cases from our personal friends, getting violently ill, vomiting and even temporarily losing eyesight immediately following their COVID vaccination.

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To contact TEACHERS FOR CHOICE go to our contact page HERE