Weingarten: Teacher strikes possible in Arizona, Florida, Texas

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/29/teacher-strike-weingarten-coronavirus-387397

Teachers in states like Florida, Arizona and Texas are the most likely to strike in protest of unsafe working conditions amid the pandemic, union leader Randi Weingarten warned Wednesday.

If governors and local leaders reopen schools in places where coronavirus cases are spiking — without first containing the spread or meeting demands for safety measures — teachers can't surrender in negotiations leading up to the start of the school year, said Weingarten, who serves as president of the American Federation of Teachers, in an interview with POLITICO.

"You can't say, at the end, ‘Okay, I just give up.’ You have to actually be true to your convictions," Weingarten said. "And if that means a safety strike as a last resort, that's what it means. If you believe that the safety and health of people are really sacrosanct, then you’ve got to be able to sacrifice for it.”

So if leaders refuse to resort to remote instruction in areas with high levels of community spread or positive tests, Weingarten said “you’re going to see a safety strike there.”

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