Fw: [syndicalists] New Jersey Judge jails teachers in strike showdown

Joe R. Golowka joeG at ieee.org
Tue Dec 4 19:54:48 PST 2001


-- Joe R. Golowka JoeG at ieee.org Anarchist FAQ - http://www.anarchyfaq.org

"I have the greatest admiration for your propaganda. Propaganda in the West is carried out by experts who have had the best training in the world -- in the field of advertizing -- and have mastered the techniques with exceptional proficiency ... Yours are subtle and persuasive; ours are crude and obvious ... I think that the fundamental difference between our worlds, with respect to propaganda, is quite simple. You tend to believe yours ... and we tend to disbelieve ours." -- a Soviet correspondent based five years in the U.S. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Victor Chernov" <wsany at hotmail.com> To: <wsa-talk at topica.com>; <syndicalists at flag.blackened.net>; <ait-iwa-talk at list.uncanny.net> Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2001 4:27 AM Subject: [syndicalists] New Jersey Judge jails teachers in strike showdown


>
>
> Dear comrades,
>
> As of this writing the judge has jailed more then 40 teachers. The judge
is
> asking each and every teacher if he/she will personally cross the picket
> line. If the response is no, they are being jailed.
>
>
> Letters of protest should be directed to Mr. Jack De Talvo, Schools
> Superintendent, School District, Tindall Road, Middletown,NJ 07748.
>
> A public email "comment" address has been set up specifically regarding
the
> strike. Constructive letters of protest and or solidarity should be sent
to:
> comments at middletown12.org.
>
> Prtoest letters can be faxed to Judge Clarkson S. Fisher at
1-732-303-7656.
>
> Below we reprint an artcile from today's Newark, NJ "Star Ledger" (the
> unoffical state-wide newspaper).
>
> Yours in solidarity
> NY-NJ Workers Solidarity Alliance
> wsany at hotmail.com
>
> Judge jails teachers in strike showdown
>
> 12/04/01
>
> BY PATRICK JENKINS AND MARY JO PATTERSON
> NEWARK STAR-LEDGER STAFF
>
> During an emotionally charged courtroom drama, a Superior Court judge in
> Freehold jailed four striking Middletown teachers last night and
threatened
> to jail hundreds more unless they returned to work today.
>
> State union officials said it was the first time in more than 20 years
that
> teachers had been jailed on criminal contempt charges.
>
> Two men and two women tearfully surrendered their jewelry and money, and
> were taken to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, where they
were
> to be housed among the jail's general population, with no special
> privileges.
>
> Despite the tears, they appeared defiant and bitter. One of them, Steve
> Antonucci, head coach of the Middletown South High School football team,
> directed some venom toward the township school board.
>
> "I got into the business because I loved kids. I loved teaching," he said.
> "Last week my team won the state championship, and this is the thanks I
get
> from the board."
>
> Also jailed were Robert Abbot, a physical education teacher; Michelle
> Armistead, a special education teacher; and Patricia Ayling, a
kindergarten
> teacher. Court officials processed striking teachers alphabetically, and
did
> not get beyond those whose names started with "A."
>
> A fifth teacher about to be arrested had a change of heart after admitting
> that she, like the others, had ignored a back-to-work order, and promised
to
> go back to work this morning. She was permitted to leave.
>
> Two others pleaded child care problems and were fined $50 a day, rather
than
> jailed; and bench warrants were issued for six others, who did not show up
> as ordered.
>
>
> The judge, Clarkson S. Fisher, presided over a previous illegal strike in
> the district in 1998. That action was short-lived and ended with both
sides
> settling.
>
>
> Malachi J. Kenney, attorney for the Middletown Township Board of
Education,
> said school would be open for staff but closed to students today. He said
> members of the board were "sad and concerned that members of the teaching
> staff are in jail." But, he added, they "think it important for everyone
to
> understand, that (that outcome) was the individual choice of each of the
> jailed teachers." He said the number of teachers who have defied the
strike
> and reported to work has increased every day.
>
>
> Middletown, the largest school district in Monmouth County, has
experienced
> unusually acrimonious relations between its school board and the
900-member
> Middletown Township Education Association.
>
>
> At issue in this year's strike are health insurance benefits. The
teachers'
> contract expired June 30.
>
>
> The board wants teachers to pay 12 percent of their premiums through
payroll
> deductions; the teachers union says the proposal would cost each of its
> members $2,500 a year. Middletown teachers earn an average of $56,300 a
> year.
>
>
> The strike began Thursday. No classes have been held for the district's
> 10,500 students for the past three school days, although the buildings
have
> been open to teachers. A small number have showed up.
>
> On Friday, teachers were served with papers ordering them to court at 2
p.m.
> yesterday. Hundreds milled about in the public square outside the
courthouse
> while waiting to be called.
>
> The hearings began with legal wrangling designed to settle the issue short
> of jail, but it ended with the judge saying the only "effective and
> reasonable way" to end the strike was through incarceration.
>
> First to be jailed was Abbot, 49, a former district student and star
> quarterback. Abbot is active in raising scholarship money for
> student-athletes through a local foundation, the Middletown Lion Hall of
> Fame.
>
> ...
>
> Armistead and Ayling, the female teachers, told the judge they were
> disobeying his back-to-work order because they did not believe they were
> "treated fairly."
>
> Outside, some of hundreds of waiting teachers cried as they learned
> colleagues had been jailed.
>
> Once the hearings were over -- to resume today -- teacher union head Diane
> Swaim held an impromptu pep rally on the steps of the courthouse.
>
> Swaim, a social studies teacher who has led the union for 30 years,
referred
> to the jailed teachers as "martyrs."
>
>
> "We are determined to see this through til the end," she told the cheering
> crowd. "If every single one of us has to go to jail, so be it."
>
> "When they put those four people in jail, they made a mistake," she said.
>
> All teachers who have not yet appeared before the judge must report to the
> Hall of Records at 9 a.m. today, where the hearing process is to resume.
>
> Jail officials said they had plenty of space on hand, with several hundred
> vacancies. They said they could accommodate 300 to 400 teachers.
>
>
> Staff writer Sue Epstein contributed to this report.
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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