Staff at Milwaukee Rocketship Public Schools Launch Campaign to Unionize with the IAMAW

Milwaukee, Mar 22, 2023 – Today, teachers and support staff working at Rocketship Public Schools located in Milwaukee, WI are making public their intent to unionize with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) District 10. 

Staff members at Rocketship Transformation Prep and Rocketship Southside Community Prep formed an organizing committee early this year to gain a voice in shaping the workplace policies that impact their classrooms.  Concerned staff believe that a union contract will help them address key workplace issues which include accountability, transparency, job security, and follow-through of equity benchmarks. They believe unionizing will help ensure that all their students receive the education they deserve, protect the most vulnerable students, and continue Rocketship’s mission of closing the achievement gap in our lifetime. Goals of the organizing campaign include:

(1) Respect: Rocketship will be a stronger institution when staff voices are included, valued, and supported.

(2) Equity: Rocketship Milwaukee has serious diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues that need to be addressed immediately. Rocketship needs to prioritize the findings and recommendations from its own 2021 equity audit.

(3)  Accountability: We love Rocketship, its students, and mission. We want to hold Rocketship to its own stated high standards.  Our students and community deserve nothing less.

(4) Transparency: Rocketship families and the Milwaukee community deserve transparency about what’s going on in their schools.

(5) Job Security: Staff want an end to unacceptable rates of turnover and burn-out. They want clear communication about the pathways for career advancement, promotions, licensing, and job stability.

For more information about the staff’s vision for Rocketship, parents and community members can visit the campaign website at: https://rocketship.livelifeunion.org.

Rocketship teachers, paraprofessionals, and support staff care deeply about their students and families and are dedicated to Rocketship’s core mission to improving educational opportunities in Milwaukee.  Collective bargaining will elevate their voices so that teachers and management can work as partners to make Rocketship schools the best they can be.

About the IAM – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is among the largest industrial trade unions in North America and represents nearly 600,000 active and retired members in aerospace, transportation, manufacturing, shipbuilding, woodworking, and many other industries. To learn more, visit www.iamawd10.org or contact Alex Hoekstra, IAMAW District 10 Directing Business Representative at hoekalex@yahoo.com or (920) 210-7754.

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