Teachers' Federation of Puerto Rico
Encyclopedia
The Teachers' Federation of Puerto Rico is a union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
of teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. Its primary base is among employees of the Departamento de Educación Pública de Puerto Rico.
The FMPR was formed in 1960s by radical union activists. It currently has 32,000 members, making it one of the largest unions in Puerto Rico. The FMPR has recently disaffiliated from the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
. A referendum within the union decided on a majority vote to disaffiliate with the AFT and the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
. The details of the referendum were published on their website and the votes were counted by the teachers themselves according to official reports. The conflict between the two unions remained in limbo through January 2005, when hundreds of FMPR officers opposed to disaffiliation formally asked AFT to investigate the disaffiliation vote and the governing practices of President Feliciano. Though the AFT investigation alleged numerous violations of the democratic rights of FMPR members, the whole matter of who controlled the FMPR wound up in court in Puerto Rico. FMPR prevailed in the court proceedings.
In April 2003 some of the union leadership including the president of the union were involved in violent protests which resulted in arrests and jail time for members of the union.
On February 21, 2008, the FMPR officially declared a strike.
Exactly nine days after it began, the FMPR declared the strike over.