Delegates pass PSRP Bill of Rights with standing ovation

The PSRP Bill of Rights resolution passed unanimously with cheers and a standing ovation at the close of the afternoon general session today at the AFT convention in Houston. AFT President Randi Weingarten said that our job now is to "move heaven and earth" to elect politicians who will pass the same bill at the state and national levels to ensure our paraprofessionals and school-related personnel get the rights, privileges and benefits they deserve.

Too many PSRPs are routinely subjected to violence during the workday, and too many have to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Given the irreplaceable role that PSRPs play in classrooms and the invaluable support they give to the institutions they serve, ensuring they have commensurate compensation and respect is critical for the well-being of not only our members, but our students, schools and colleges.

Enacting this legislation would guarantee that the more than 370,000 members who make up the AFT's PSRP division would have access to a family-sustaining wage, good benefits, fair and safe working conditions, a voice in the workplace, job security and opportunities for professional development-things that should be par for the course but are currently few and far between. Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a PSRP Bill of Rights at the federal level last fall.

Members representing the PSRP division came forward to make the case. Sarah Wofford, Oregon School Employees Association president and AFT vice president, noted that the provisions included in the bill are basics that people assume PSRPs already have, but in Oregon, PSRPs only won unemployment benefits this year.

"Everything that this [bill] says needs to happen, and it needs to happen in every single state," Wofford said.

Shelvy Abrams, AFT vice president, United Federation of Teachers paraprofessional chapter chair and PSRP Committee co-chair, earned a standing ovation when she stood to give support for the bill. Abrams, who has been a PSRP for 52 years, is retiring.

"We are the unsung heroes," she said. "We proved the fact that we are just as important as anyone else, … but yet when it comes to salary, when it comes to health insurance, paid leave, we are the last one."

She closed by asking all AFT members to encourage their legislators to support the PSRP Bill of Rights at the federal level.

[Melanie Boyer, photo credit: Russ Curtis]

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