By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – A group of Catholic elementary teachers is asking Archbishop Raymond Burke to recognize it as a union.
The Association of Catholic Elementary Educators, known as ACEE, has sought union representation for more than a decade from the archdiocese.
ACEE staged a picket Thursday outside the chancery and delivered a letter for the archbishop along with a collection of stories outlining poor treatment of teachers.
The group's president Mary Chubb says the teachers are feeling increasingly vulnerable to the whims of administrative officials.
"Teacher morale is low, teachers come to school afraid to say, to do, to speak up because they do not know what the consequences will be and that is not a healthy environment," Chubb said.
Chubb says administrative officials take their cue from Archbishop Burke. ACEE is seeking a meeting with the archbishop.
In a statement the Archdiocese said it's committed to working with teachers and that teachers already are represented by the Parish Teacher Committee.