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The Federation of Teachers of Puerto Rico needs your help

| January 12, 2020

We are reposting this appeal from No Borders News.

Hundreds of thousands remain without power and running water and tens of thousands more have been forced from their homes by a powerful earthquakes and aftershocks this week in Puerto Rico. This tragedy comes on the heels of devastating hurricanes Irma and Maria and neoliberal robbery carried out by the island’s elites and their patrons in Washington, D.C.

No Borders News appeals to our readers to support this Go Fund Me fund-raising effort organized by international solidarity activist Monique Dols. Dols is a member of the American Federation of Teachers and the Movement of Rank and File Educators based in New York City.

The Federation of Teachers of Puerto Rico (FMPR) needs international solidarity and financial support! 

  • The FMPR defends public education. For years the educator union, the FMPR has fought against school closures, for smaller class sizes, against overcrowding, for funding for special education programs, against the charter school take over, and for just wages and a decent retirement for educators in Puerto Rico.
  • The FMPR is a target of repression.At the beginning of October of 2019, the FMPR’s building was firebombed and there was more than $100,000 of damage. The target of the terrorist attack, the Central General de Trabajadores (CGT), who the FMPR rents the space to, led a victorious strike the month before.
  • The FMRP fights austerity.The FMPR is helping to lead the struggle against the Fiscal Control Board plan for austerity in Puerto Rico. If passed, this plan will eviscerate public sector employees pensions and rights in Puerto Rico.
  • The FMPR builds rank-and-file power. The FMPR organizes to build strong organization at the school level. They organize workshops, build solidarity, mobilize these forces nationally, and are training a new generation of educators to stand up for the future of Puerto Rico.
  • The FMPR doesn’t back down.The Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (AMPR), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) affiliate in PR is a boss’s union who is negotiating away educator rights. The FMPR, on the other hand rejects privatization and organizes to leverage the power of the rank and file over the power of the privatizers and colonial vultures in Puerto Rico.
  • A call for solidarity: The Federation of Teachers of Puerto Rico (FMPR) has a collection center to collect and distribute needed supplies to those most affected by the recent earthquakes that have rocked Puerto Rico and devastated many parts of the south and south west of the island. Money donated here will be used to buy the following items, which will be directly distributed to those who need it, including: