Apr 4, 2008 8:29 pm US/Eastern
Catholic School Teachers Stage Citywide 'Sick-Out'
Hundreds Of Teachers Rally Over Contract Negotiations
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Teachers at St. Jean Baptiste called out sick, but showed up at the school anyway to protest against the Archdiocese of New York.
CBS
Nearly all teachers at 10 New York City-area Catholic schools called out sick Friday as part of a labor action against the Edward Cardinal Egan and the Archdiocese of New York. Union officials say the archdiocese isn't playing fair in contract negotiations.
Hundreds of Catholic schoolteachers were involved in the sickout, sending a message of dissatisfaction to the Archdiocese. But the job action could end up hurting their cause.
Protesting in a downpour, teachers at St. Jean Baptist called out sick, then showed up anyway with picket signs.
"The message is to sit down and talk with us. That's what we want to do," said Daniel Linehan of the Federation of Catholic Teachers.
Teachers staged a sickout at ten of the more than 200 schools represented by the Federation. Affected schools are located on Staten Island, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester County.
The union claims Cardinal Egan is not negotiating in good faith. They allege the Archdiocese has not shared information relating negotiations over health care costs.
"Lifting the health care costs is just too much for many of the faculty to bear," said Joel Laciura of the Federation of Catholic Teachers.
Archdiocese spokesman Joe Zwilling says however, the church has shared reams of information and will get the union everything it has asked for.
"This is a complete shock, a complete waste of the teachers' time, all this does is waste students' education. It serves no purpose whatsoever," said Zwilling.
Students, who felt the teachers' absence, didn't anticipate much in the way of learning on Friday.
"I think they're going to have us all held in the auditorium, watch a movie, there's nothing we can do, all the teachers are out of here," said student Jesenia Rivera.
"I understand what they're trying to do, they should be paid better, they're really good teachers," said senior Ana Gomez.
The Archdiocese says it will dock a day's pay from every teacher who participated in Friday's sickout.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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