Puerto Rico

  • Tens of Thousands March Against Puerto Rico Layoffs
    José A. Laguarta Ramírez
    Oct 23 2009 - 12:20pm

    Tens of thousands of workers were joined by supporters on October 15 in Puerto Rico, marching through San Juan to protest the layoffs of nearly 25,000 public employees.

  • Puerto Rico to Lay Off 17,000; Splintered Labor Movement Scrambles to Respond
    José A. Laguarta Ramírez
    Oct 6 2009 - 4:38pm

    Governor Luis Fortuño announced in late September that nearly 17,000 public employees in Puerto Rico will lose their jobs by November, in addition to the nearly 8,000 laid off over the summer.

  • Puerto Rico’s Teachers Beat SEIU Raid

    Author(s):
    Steve Early

    Excerpt:
    By a margin of 18,123 to 14,675 Puerto Rican teachers voted against joining the SEIU-backed SPM (Sindicato Puertorriqueno de Maestros), which is closely aligned with another SEIU affiliate, the Association de Maestros de Puerto Rico, an organization of school principals and administrators....

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • Day 1 - Teachers meet with SEIU members

    Tonight the Puerto Rican teachers held a "charla" or chat with SEIU members interested in learning more about their struggle, and the conflict between SEIU and their union the FMPR. I couldn't be there but Labor Notes Policy Committee member Steve Early was on the scene. From Steve's reports, the FMPR event sounded about as far from the highly scripted, stage-managed SEIU convention as you could get.

  • Puerto Rican Teachers Challenge the Purple Lockdown

    The Puerto Rican convention center hosting the Service Employees International Union’s big confab is kind of an eerie cross between Superman’s Fortress of Solitude and a prison in some isolated part of rural California.

  • Teachers Strike Stops Classes in Puerto Rico

    Author(s):
    José A. Laguarta Ramírez

    Excerpt:
    Striking members of Puerto Rico’s teachers union, the Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR) voted to end their strike March 5. Lasting two weeks, the teachers’ strike paralyzed classes at most of the island’s 1,500 public schools, thanks in large part to the hundreds of thousands of parents who kept their children home from school. . . .

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • SEIU to Raid Union Representing 40,000 Teachers in Puerto Rico

    Author(s):
    César Rosado Marzán

    Excerpt:
    Dennis Rivera, chair of the national SEIU Healthcare union, announced December 28 that an organization of teachers and school principals in Puerto Rico would affiliate with SEIU and seek to challenge the incumbent Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR).

    Available Online:
    Yes