October 7, 2020

Dear Brooklyn Friends School Board of Trustees and Crissy Cáceres, Head of School,

We, the Bank Street Professional Employees Federation (BSPEF), are writing to express our support for the Brooklyn Friends School Union and its affiliation with UAW Local 2110. We call on you to immediately withdraw your petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to decertify the union.

We are alarmed that Brooklyn Friends School, which professes to uphold faith-rooted social justice values, is playing into the Trump administration’s hands in a way that could undermine workers’ rights to organize at other religiously affiliated institutions. We are concerned not only with the rights and well-being of the workers, students and broader community at Brooklyn Friends School, but also with the dangerous precedent that this case could set in the hands of the Trump-appointed NLRB.

Like Brooklyn Friends, Bank Street has a long tradition of social justice values and progressive education. Justice and equity for workers is an important principle that aligns with our mission and values. Labor unions continue to be indispensable to advancing the well-being of workers, our families and our communities. At Bank Street we recognize that unions not only exemplify our values, but they make us stronger collectively, as an institution. Our Union and school leadership have a positive, productive relationship—one built on shared interests, respect, and trust. We urge you to immediately withdraw your petition to the NLRB and work in good faith to reach an agreement with the Brooklyn Friends School Union. Until you take that action, we are fully behind the union in their strike.

Respectfully,
The Bank Street Professional Employees Federation