ETA has a plan to address the Leave Bank Situation now and in the future

By: Sam Bertocchi, ETA Candidate for VP of Special Education

Our slate has what it takes to face a crisis head on and deal with it in the short and long term

As union members and leaders, those of us on the Educators Taking Action slate are deeply concerned about the situation surrounding our leave banks.

We believe as a union we need to face this crisis head on by planning for the future and taking steps to mitigate harm to members in the short term.

Our plan would be to lobby city leaders to make up the current shortfall for this year, hold a recruitment drive to get as many members in the bank as possible and begin work toward recreating a fund that could support members when our current systems of solidarity don’t meet the entirety of their financial needs. 

When we think of lobbying city leaders, this would mean working with the mayor and other agencies in the short term and council in the long term. While council is the keeper of the purse for the city,  this would require a quick turn around we would be unable to use emergency legislation to fix this problem. 

One problem the bank enrollment is having is we’ve only ever discussed them as a way to plan for each member’s individual future, which appeals to some members, but we also have a lot of members who have more hours then they’ll ever be able to use. While it’s unlikely dcps would allow those who want to the opportunity to add more hours to the bank, future bank enrollment efforts have to focus on these as the tools for solidarity they are. Even those of us who don’t want to have kids can enroll in the family leave bank as a way we support each other.

Even those of us who don’t worry about extended illness can enroll in the sick leave bank. Why? Because we keep us safe. 

Using that same lens of solidarity we can see the need for some funds the Union, or a sibling organization, keeps funds available for when other methods of solidarity, such as leave banks or labor action, don’t allow members to continue meeting their financial needs. This could be used to give one day payments to members who couldn’t participate in “work-to-the-rule” type actions due to their need of funds from aftercare positions, or provide additional security around the leave banks so people who need to access the bank at the end of the school year have other possible ways to fill in gaps. This is something the union has done before and we can do it again.

Most importantly, this is work that should continue to be led by members and considered in proactive, supportive ways. In February of 2024, members of our slate passed a motion through the executive board unanimously for a task force to form around potential issues to the leave bank (See text below). Current officers of the union, with the exception of the secretary, did not take this call seriously, even as it kept coming back up in meetings, and the task force was never convened.

We need officers who are leaders, and leaders who take the needs of members seriously and proactively. 

Footnote Motion from 2/3/24 reads:

“Laura Fuchs moved that the WTU Executive Board start a Task Force, open to all Members, to examine the current WTU Sick and Maternity/Paternity Leave Bank Policies. The Task Force would create a report for the WTU Executive Board's approval on options for how to improve information getting to members on how to best use the Banks, potential policy changes that would improve members' access to the banks, and how to get more members to sign up for the Banks, as well as any other questions regarding the WTU Sick and Maternity/Leave Bank that the Task Force deems necessary.” From the WTU Approved Minutes.