Alex Brower went on a hunger strike to gain healthcare for substitute teachers at MPS.
Alex Brower is taking matters into his own hands to raise awareness for healthcare coverage, or lack thereof, for substitute teachers at Milwaukee Public Schools. Today, Brower is on day 19 of a hunger strike in hopes that MPS will include health care coverage for full-time substitute teachers on their 2018-2019 budget.
“I guess I’m ‘Chavezing’ it,” said Brower, the President of The Milwaukee Substitute Teachers Association, mentioning Cesar Chavez’s 1968 hunger strike. “My coworkers are just as important to me as everyone else in this country. I don't think I’ll have to die for them… but I would.”
Brower decided to go on a hunger strike after the proposed MPS budget that was released in late April did not include healthcare options for substitute teachers. Substitute teachers are employed by MPS and Brower says they should receive healthcare benefits. He says he made it clear to the board that he wanted healthcare for substitutes in the budget. The MPS board meets on Thursday and Brower’s hope is that a board member will bring forward an amendment to include healthcare for substitutes during the meeting.
“There is no reason that substitute teaching should not be considered a profession itself,” he said. “I’m worried that the people that I work with will not have what they need.”
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Brower stands in front of Riverside University High School. He has also been standing in front of the MPS Central Office every day during the strike.
The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association fought and won the possibility of MPS using a temp agency to hire substitute teachers last fall. Brower said around 200 substitute teachers work full-time hours for the district, but he said these teachers still do not receive the same benefits as full-time teachers, something he is hoping to change.
Brower is also involved as a community activist in the Riverwest neighborhood. “I do work full time... I work almost every single day for these kids,” he said.
Other substitutes are also chiming in on the issue. “I’m scared of getting sick,” said Terri Brookshire, a substitute who has been teaching with MPS since 2013. “I do hope to see some kind of mediator concerning health care for the full times that want it, because they do care about the children.”
Brower said that he has been joined by others in the hunger strike, with supporters joining him with their own 24-hour hunger strike. Although Brower believes he has the votes to win healthcare for substitutes, he did say that the VP of the MTEA will join Brower in his hunger strike if the amendment is not brought up.
A candlelight vigil in solidarity with the hunger strike will be held Tuesday, May 22 at 6 p.m. at the MPS Central Office at 5225 W. Vliet St.
