It’s time to get real about fighting for Puerto Rico’s teachers

Monique Dols has once again attacked the AFT’s work with the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico on the bankruptcy process in Puerto Rico. And, again, she demonstrates her lack of knowledge about how bankruptcy works. There is no point in responding to her again in full, but a few points are necessary to correct her uninformed and false statements.

Bankruptcy is extremely difficult because the law gives Wall Street banks and bondholders the upper hand in the process. The bankruptcy court — not the government — has the ultimate power to decide how we are treated and what we can achieve in the negotiations. And under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, the Financial Oversight and Management Board — or the Junta, as it is referred to on the island — is the only group that is allowed to propose a plan of recovery.

As Dols surely knows, the recent plan released by the Junta damaged Puerto Rico’s teachers badly. It froze our underfunded pensions, which are worth only 4 cents on the dollar, and gave us no guarantees that they would protect us going forward.

The painful reality is that we must choose between engaging with the Junta to fight for a better deal, or sitting on the sidelines and watching while Wall Street runs the table. The government of Puerto Rico has no power in bankruptcy court; that’s why former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s pledge to save our pensions was a lie — and he knew it was when he said it. Rosselló had, in fact, helped create the problem. To choose not to fight Wall Street in the forum where decisions will be made, after teachers have poured everything they have into teaching over many years, is unacceptable. That’s why we must fight the Junta to try to get it to agree to a fairer and more equitable plan that secures our future retirement security and offers us some degree of economic dignity and respect.

Before Dols attacks us again in the future, let’s at least be honest about the real challenges. I am all-in for fighting in the streets, just as our national union did in supporting our local in Chicago. But we owe it to our members to understand where the decisions get made. And, when it comes to bankruptcy, that means dealing with the Junta to get the best plan we can for Puerto Rico’s teachers.