UPDATE: October 7, 2020

The School just contacted us and said they will withdraw the petition first thing tomorrow morning if we end the strike. We agreed. Tomorrow, school will open at the regular time. Everyone should return to work. 

UPDATE: October 6, 2020

We are suspending picketing tomorrow (Wednesday 10/7) while negotiations take place between Brooklyn Friends School and the union. We are still on strike but we will not be gathering outside the school. Stay tuned for further updates.

October 1, 2020

Dear BFS Families, 

Our strike begins Monday, October 5, and will continue until the Board of Trustees and Head of School cease their efforts to decertify our union. We do not make this decision lightly, and it only comes after exhausting all other options since August 14. In striking, we are making a principled sacrifice. To protect our right to unionize, we will give up our financial security. We will also step away from BFS students, who are so important to our lives.  

We work with your children every day and are committed to their wellbeing and education. We work hard to give them the very best experience in school. We unionized to collectively bargain with our employer and to be treated equitably and with dignity. We feel it is fundamentally important to maintain this right for our own sake and for the sake of your children as well. You can read from various BFS workers why they are striking here.

The Board of Trustees and Head of School’s attempt to decertify our union has affected us all, colleagues and families alike. Your families and the broader Quaker community have had to endure and hope for a resolution as the school’s leadership has rejected every possible opportunity at compromise (see below).

We recognize the impact this process has on families. Our colleagues provide guidance and mentorship, love and support, and a safe place for your children. The school leadership’s actions have put all of us, colleagues and families, in a position where our relationships and principles are being tested. You have worked to send your children to a school that values the importance of rights and justice, which is also why many of us decided to work here in the first place. In striking, we are honoring those principles despite the practical cost, and we invite you to do the same.

BFS families can support us by: 

• Joining us on the picket line to positively convey our demands and honor our shared principles. We will be picketing daily at all three BFS locations on Monday through Friday, from 6:30 to 9:30 am.

• Honoring our strike by not sending your children to school in person or remote.

• Having a conversation with your children about our decision to strike. (We’ll share resources for talking with younger children about strikes on our website shortly.) 

• Donating to our strike fund.

In Solidarity,
The BFS Union

UPDATE 9/28/20: The Union Negotiating Committee has called for Monday, October 5 as a start date for a strike if the School does not withdraw its NLRB petition before then. We will be updating this site in the coming days with more information. In the meantime, see below for our letter to the Board of Trustees regarding what we see as a viable path to avoid a strike. We continue to urge the School to do the right thing and withdraw the petition.

UPDATE 9/24/20: The following letter was sent to the BFS Board of Trustees on September 24, 2020 from three union members and a representative of UAW Local 2110:

Dear Chairman Oliver and Trustees of the Brooklyn Friends Board,
We write after having two very productive discussions with the former Board clerks Alice Pope, Nancy Black and Benjamin Warnke, to address the crisis in which we all find ourselves. The former clerks kindly introduced us to two labor relations experts, who are also Quaker — Professors Rebecca Givan and Paul Clark. The professors have provided us with information on alternative methods of union negotiations and labor/management relations which they described as more in keeping with Quaker process and values. We are open and amenable to these alternative methods, including mediation, in order to achieve a collaborative and productive partnership with the School’s leadership, and avoid any disruption. 
As you are aware, the union membership of the School has voted to authorize a strike in light of the School’s NLRB petition. We respectfully request that you withdraw the petition. If it is withdrawn, we will not strike. We ask you to instead join us in considering the alternative method of labor/management engagement which has been suggested by the former Board clerks.

UPDATE 9/21/20: The union membership has voted overwhelmingly—by 96%—to authorize a strike if necessary if the School does not cease its efforts to decertify our union. The vote was a resounding 120 Yes to 5 No.

This vote is a testament to our strong solidarity, and our commitment to keeping our union, fighting for our workplace rights, and negotiating a fair contract. We can support each other as colleagues regardless of which division we work in and the job title we hold. Working together as a wall-to-wall union, we can make Brooklyn Friends a stronger, better school for all.

We will be holding meetings later in the week to discuss what our next steps will be.

—Organizing members of the BFS Union, September 21, 2020

9/17/20: Last year, BFS colleagues—including teachers, administrative staff, and maintenance and cafeteria workers—voted by eighty percent to form a union. We did so to have a democratic, collective voice in our working conditions and to make employment at the school sustainable for all. The pandemic has reinforced our desire and need for a union as we have seen layoffs, reductions in staff, and many health and safety and technological challenges involved in reopening.

The Head of School and Board of Trustees’ action in filing a petition to decertify our union, citing a Trump administration precedent, leaves us with no choice but to ensure the preservation of our democratic union rights. Over the past month, since the School’s petition was filed, we have made numerous attempts to persuade the Board and Head of School to change course, including:

• Open letters to the Head of School and Board of Trustees—one signed by 135 union colleagues, and one signed by over 900 BFS families, alums, and supportive community members.

• Participation in a community forum convened by Brooklyn Monthly Meeting.

• A solidarity rally at which various stakeholders—including BFS parents and workers—communicated our demand that the NLRB petition be withdrawn.

• Reaching out and gaining the support of numerous elected officials who have spoken out against the petition.

We have also publicly stated that we are open to a mediation proposal made by three former clerks of the BFS Board of Trustees who are also Brooklyn Meeting Members. Our joint statement about this can be read here. 

Despite these efforts, the BFS Board of Trustees has not withdrawn the petition and, recently, the Head of School stated that the School has no intention of doing so. 

After many meetings and discussions among unionized colleagues, the elected Union Negotiating Committee, determined that it was necessary to move forward with a strike authorization vote. All union members at BFS are entitled to vote and all employees within the bargaining unit have been invited to become members.

We wanted to share some basic facts about the strike authorization vote: 

• The strike authorization vote empowers the elected Union Negotiating Committee—composed of BFS employees—to call for a strike if necessary. A strike cannot be called or ordered by UAW leadership, as was recently claimed by the Head of School. 

• A two-thirds majority of all those voting is necessary for the strike to be authorized. Only union card-signers can vote in the election. The vast majority of the bargaining unit had already signed the cards prior to discussions of a strike vote and all eligible BFS colleagues have been invited to sign a union card enabling them to vote. 

• The Union Negotiating Committee has not yet made a determination of when to call a strike, if authorized to do so. The decision to strike is not one that is made lightly, and the committee will continue to be in conversation with union members, families, and community allies as we move forward.

In a September 16 communication to families from the Head of School, there was the hurtful implication that a decision to authorize a strike runs counter to the “moral center as educators, who have an ethical code to guide and protect children.” This cynical attempt to impugn our very morals and ethics as laborers in a school that prides itself on social justice work is disgraceful. Our commitment to a strong union arises directly from our commitment to the education and care of our students—children whose food we prepare, whose classrooms we clean, and whom we teach and support. Our working conditions are also students’ learning conditions and our right to bargain collectively for our financial security and a democratic voice in our workplace is essential to the well-being of Brooklyn Friends School, its families, its students, its employees, and its community.

The workers of BFS remain committed to our students and our families. We also remain committed to the BFS Union as the most effective means to have our voices heard and our concerns addressed. The Board’s refusal to withdraw the petition has left us no choice: we will proceed with the vote to strike. 

—Organizing members of the BFS Union, September 17, 2020