Coast to Coast Demonstrations Demand Safe Schools, Defunding of Police and Investing in Communities
 March for safe schools, New
York City, August 3, 2020.
Actions across the U.S. over the past week continue to
express the profound concerns of the people from coast to coast and
north to south with the state of affairs in the United States. The
coronavirus pandemic is out of control, schools are reopening despite
unsafe conditions and the U.S. has become an outright tyranny with the
unrestrained use of police agencies at all levels against the
demonstrators. Meanwhile, the rich are getting richer and the plight of
the poor worsens as unemployment soars and all problems facing the
people increase.
Calls for the defunding of police departments and
for this funding to go to the social programs
required by the communities are front and centre.
Many of the actions focussed on safe schools --
meaning both that police must be removed from the
schools and that measures must be taken to prevent
the spread of COVID-19. Teachers and education
workers are forcefully demanding that schools must
be reopened "Only When It's Safe," and that the
required funding be made available to do so. They
point out that without additional space, staff,
equipment and proper ventilation, reopening the
schools will result in the deaths of students,
teachers and others to whom they will spread the
virus. The call has gone out: the only
acceptable number of deaths is zero.
Actions were organized by education workers,
parents and others, in more than 35 locations
across the country on August 3 while
the National Nurses United held a U.S.-wide
day of action on August 5 to demand protection
against the coronavirus. Meanwhile ongoing mass
protests against police brutality and impunity
continued to valiantly resist further police
violence and repression.
As schools across the U.S. begin to reopen, the
President of the American Federation of Teachers
in a July 28 speech reiterated the federation's
proposals for the reopening of schools that put
the safety of students, teachers and education
workers at the forefront of considerations. She
decried the lack of funding for some school
boards, where schools are overcrowded, lack proper
ventilation or lack soap in the bathrooms. She
noted that much needed funding for schools during
the pandemic has been stalled in the Senate.
 "These funds
should have been distributed to communities months
ago. How dare McConnell stonewall and stall this
aid? And how dare Trump tweet, in all caps,
'SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!' With no plan.
No funding. And no idea what he is talking about.
"What hypocrisy, to cancel the GOP convention in
Jacksonville, Fla., because of the risks to GOP
delegates gathering in that coronavirus hot spot,
yet in the same breath demand that children and
teachers gather in schools in that same hot spot.
"Why would anyone trust Trump with reopening
schools, when he has mishandled everything else
about the coronavirus? Why would anyone trust
[Education Secretary] Betsy DeVos, who has zero
credibility about how public schools actually
work? Why would anyone try to reopen schools
through force and threats, without a plan and
without resources? Unless all they wanted was to
create chaos so it would fail.
"Before the virus' resurgence, and before Trump
and DeVos' reckless 'open or else' threats, 76 per
cent of American Federation of Teachers members
polled in June said they were comfortable
returning to school buildings if the proper
safeguards were in place. Now they're afraid and
angry. Many are quitting, retiring or writing
their wills. Parents are afraid and angry, too. A
recent AP poll shows that the majority of
Americans think that school buildings should only
reopen with major adjustments or revert to remote
instruction.
"Let's be clear: Just as we have done with our
health care workers, we will fight on all fronts
for the safety of our students and their
educators. But if authorities don't protect the
safety and health of those we represent and those
we serve, as our executive council voted last
week, nothing is off the table -- not advocacy or
protests, negotiations, grievances or lawsuits,
or, if necessary and authorized by a local union,
as a last resort, safety strikes.
"It is the 11th hour. We need the resources
now.[...]"
In a similar vein, National Nurses United
held a U.S.-wide day of action on August 5, with
more than 200 actions at hospital facilities in at
least 16 states and Washington, DC "to demand that
our elected leaders, government, and hospital
employers take immediate action to save lives."
 "Nurses know that
this country's rampant social, economic, and
racial injustice has been killing our patients all
along. COVID-19 is just forcing us as a society to
face these problems," said Bonnie Castillo, RN and
National Nurses United Executive Director. "These
recent COVID surges and uncontrolled infections
and deaths, the failure of employers to protect
our nurses and other workers, the outrageously
high rates of unemployment and hunger, the
totalitarian crackdown on protesters -- every
crisis we are seeing now can be traced back to our
failure to value human lives over profit."
The National Nurses United writes that registered
nurses "are demanding that the Senate pass the HEROES Act, a
pending bill they are backing that would not only
protect health care and other essential workers by
ensuring domestic production of PPE through the Defense Production
Act and by mandating that the federal
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
establish an emergency temporary standard on
infectious diseases, but also provide desperately
needed economic help in the form of cash payments,
extended unemployment benefits, and daycare
subsidies through the end of 2020 to families on
the brink."
"Nurses are still at risk," said Mary C. Turner,
an intensive care unit RN and President of the
Minnesota Nurses Association, whose members are
participating in the actions. "We still reuse PPE
that was meant to be discarded. We still care for
COVID-19 patients and non-COVID patients at the
same time. And we still struggle to protect
ourselves so we can protect our patients."
"COVID has exposed everything that has been wrong
with our system," said Zenei Cortez, RN and a
President of NNU. "The old way was a huge failure.
Now is the time to reenvision a world based on
nurses' values of caring, compassion, and
community."
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 29 - August 8, 2020
Article Link:
Coast to Coast Demonstrations Demand Safe Schools, Defunding of Police and Investing in Communities
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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