#AFTVoices

The AFT Black Caucus, Boston Chapter has been working tirelessly to support educators of color, while also working to support the communities these educators serve. Johnny McInnis is a music teacher, Boston Teachers Union Political Director, AFT Massachusetts Vice President and chapter president of the A. Phillip Randolph AFL CIO. McInnis said that the caucus works to support Black educators, noting that the caucus and its work has benefits that ripple outward from people of color. The caucus has been working to highlight not only the needs of educators of color in Boston, but also works to help shine a light on within the union to support educators of color. 

"It’s a national caucus with AFT Boston that has been meeting and trying to develop ways to support educators of color,” McInnis said. “We had our inaugural Kwanzaa celebration with a huge turnout at the Boston Teachers Union (BTU). We had vendors for the first time and that was a success also because we were able to sell and highlight local products from business owners of color.”

Lucia said that the founder of MRU, Kathy Kelly, who served as past President of AFT Massachusetts, knew the political power of retirees. MRU’s roughly 2500 members are spread across the country, and volunteer their time with no compensation. COLA has become their primary focus for retirees, amid other issues, and legislation to strengthen retiree benefits and health insurance is a goal for MRU. Lucia said that more cannot be put on the backs of seniors. 

“Don't put more on the backs of seniors than they need,” he said. “We need to increase COLA bases and preserve health insurance benefits for our retirees. Local pensions, Medicare and Medicaid all need to be priorities for our retired educators. We have fought and earned them. Don’t balance budgets on the backs of seniors.”

Mike Cooney, as described by his coworkers as the “energizer bunny,” took time out of his busy schedule to chat with us. It is well known that being an educator has not been easy, and that is certainly true as we start 2023. Record lows for educator retention, paraprofessionals demanding fair pay for fair work, and students working hard to close reading and math gaps are common themes across the Commonwealth. Mike touches on all this and much more.

“As a Special Education teacher who had challenges as a student, I can relate to someone who has trouble reading or is trying to keep up with the other kids, praying the teacher doesn't call on them,” Mike says. As an educator who is known for going above and beyond, Mike pulls his energy from deep down, knowing well the struggles his students experience too. “A teacher pulled me aside and helped me when I needed it, and I strive every day to make students feel comfortable and good about themselves because it's hard to advocate for yourself.” 

As a union, when we fight for strong contracts, we’re not only fighting for better working conditions – we’re fighting for better schools for our students. In many ways, we still haven’t recovered from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our schools and communities. Many Latino families at Madison Park and throughout the state were struggling with housing insecurity, job loss, no access to the internet for remote learning, and adjusting IEPs. Educators were left with the difficult task of supporting families with limited resources, all while trying to process our own experiences in the midst of a global pandemic.

I’m proud of the work our caucus is doing to create a space for Latino educators to come together. Affinity spaces and caucuses are a crucial part of union organizing because they allow us to identify and amplify the issues that are impacting our communities. The ability to relate to our students’ lived experience allows us to advocate for culturally-responsive solutions. When educators come together to build identity-based caucuses, we can ensure that our unions are prioritizing the fight for racial justice in our organizing.