New America Media: Battle Between Big Labor Unions Hits Puerto Rico
The competition between the two most powerful labor federations in the United States has moved to Puerto Rico, where “Change to Win”, whose leadership includes New York-based Puerto Rican union leader Dennis Rivera, is trying to compete with the teacher’s union, the island’s largest. By the middle of January, Change to Win expects to hold a meeting on the island in which the union will lay out instructions on how it will try to displace the Teacher’s Federation of Puerto Rico from its position as exclusive representative of the tens of thousands of teachers working in the public school system.
This labor drama is much more than just a challenge to represent workers, but may well be the battle that marks a major step backward for the AFL-CIO in this Caribbean nation. The battle takes place in anticipation of a major teacher’s strike that threatens to paralyze the public school system and in which Change to Win (United for Change) is positioned as a strategic ally of the island’s autonomous government, which wants to push the Teacher’s Federation out.
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