Over seventy percent of teachers at a Catholic elementary school in Brooklyn voted to join the Federation of Catholic Teachers (FCT) last week, becoming the first elementary school in the Diocese of Brooklyn to unionize. The push for union representation began following a management decision to raise health care rates last fall, after which teachers began contacting the FCT in large numbers seeking help in gaining a greater voice. The FCT---which recently won a contract providing for 11 percent raises and no increase in health insurance contributions at 235 schools in the New York Archdiocese (See WIT for Dec. 11, 2001)---has collected enough signatures to hold representation votes at two other schools in Brooklyn, and is running campaigns at over ten other schools.
See "Catholic School's Teachers Unionize", PETE BOWLES, Newsday, January 30, 2002