Waiting till after meeting with Randi Weingarten and AFT
7-15-21
TEACHERS FOR CHOICE had previously announced we would be holding a national forum of educators in July asking if it is time to leave our unions. Educators from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, NYC and more were planning to virtually convene to share thoughts and ideas on the question of if we should stop paying union dues and officially leave our respective unions.
We are postponing this forum due to the fact that Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has agreed to meet with us in August. We appreciate this opportunity and need to see what comes of this dialogue before discussing abandoning our unions.
Many educators reach out to us on a regular basis saying they are fed up with their union – usually because of forced medical mandates – and want to know how to stop paying dues and leave. To date we have advised every such educator to NOT LEAVE THEIR UNION at this point in time.
However, we have asked New York educators who are members or supporters of our caucus to STOP PAYING COPE. COPE or “VOTE COPE” is the political action fund for all New York Teacher Unions used to lobby for laws that “benefit” the union. Since our unions are now actively working to trample our fundamental rights with multiple illogical medical mandates we can no longer support such political action. In fact TEACHERS FOR CHOICE has so far spent over $11,000 in legal fees fighting such mandates in court and we view this as a clear dereliction of duty by our unions who have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the fundamental rights of their members. So every educator in New York State who supports TEACHERS FOR CHOICE, STOP COPE NOW!
Learn how to STOP PAYING COPE HERE
FAQ about STOP PAYING COPE HERE
Donate to TEACHERS FOR CHOICE instead HERE
Our plan to hold a national forum is to explore all of the various possibilities and questions pertaining to those of us who are fed up with our unions placing illogical and illegal medical mandates on us to keep our jobs. Some of those questions include:
- Should we stop paying dues and leave our unions?
- What would we lose if we stop paying dues?
- How does the Janus Supreme Court case impact our decisions?
- What is the PRO ACT, and how might this impact our decisions?
- Should we stay in our unions and work to replace leadership?
- Should we work towards creating new unions?
Since some of our national union leadership is recognizing us and agreeing to meet with us, we are putting this national forum on hold as a sign of good faith. Our communications with Randi Weingarten and AFT are going very well and we have every reason to believe the meeting in August is going to occur.
Teachers For Choice 