https://socialistaction.org/2018/03/07/west-virginia-teachers-strike-a-militant-model-for-the-labor-movement/
West Virginia teachers’ strike: A militant model for the labor movement
/ 25 mins ago
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
By HUGH STEPHENSON
— CHARLESTON, W.V. — West Virginia teachers stunned politicians, the
media, and labor officials across the country when they launched a
nine-day wildcat strike demanding wage increases and better health-care
benefits for all state employees. Some 27,000 teachers from all 55
counties of West Virginia walked out of their classrooms on Feb. 22.
They never wavered on their demands.
On March 6, a tentative agreement was reached, giving all state workers
a 5% increase in wages. The contentious issue of health insurance was
related to a committee for further study.
This win is a great victory for labor, even if the agreed increase in
wages isn’t much money. West Virginia state workers will still be at the
lower end of pay scales. Moreover, the legislature threatened to obtain
funding for the wage gain through cuts to Medicaid and other social
programs, although Governor Jim Justice denied that the cuts would take
place.
But the win sent a shock wave through boardrooms and state capitols
across the nation. And they aren’t happy. West Virginia GOP politician
Lynn Arvon was overheard saying to an aide, “The teachers have to
understand that West Virginia is a red state and the free handouts are
over.” As if pay for working, and being a teacher in particular, is a
free handout!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
The victory was largely the product of tireless preparation and
organizing work by the rank-and-file teachers and other school workers.
Labor union members and leaders would do well to take note and follow
the teachers’ example.
Teachers’ strikes are “unlawful” in West Virginia, as in many other
states. In addition, collective bargaining is not provided for in state
law; instead, the legislature is empowered to regulate school labor
issues by statute. But conditions were so bad that the teachers struck
anyway.
Initially, Gov. Justice tried to offset the teachers’ anger by signing a
bill giving a 2% increase in wages with an additional increase of 1% in
2020 and another 1% in 2021—hardly enough to offset increases in
health-care costs and inflation. In response, the teachers walked off
the job, demanding a 5% immediate increase and caps on insurance premiums.
West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the Union, and teachers
rank 47th in pay compared to other states. Teaching is predominantly
“women’s work,” and low salaries reflect the value politicians place on
women. To make ends meet, teachers, bus drivers, and school service
workers often hold down one or two additional jobs.
Low wages also force experienced teachers to seek employment outside of
West Virginia. Many teachers said they had nothing to lose by striking.
They’re right. One teacher said, “If they fire me, I’ll just go to
Target and get a job there for more money.”
Teachers recognized their action would harm students that get
nutritional needs met by food programs offered by the schools. According
to CNN, “Before they made the decision to strike they wanted to make
sure their students’ needs were taken care of,” said Jennifer Wood, with
the American Federation of Teachers union in West Virginia.
Support for the strike from within the state and across the country
shows just how important this strike is to workers everywhere. On March
5, San Francisco’s teachers union donated pizza to feed those at the
rally. A gofundme site raised $320,000 to help teachers cover lost
wages. Students formed the group, #SecureOurFuture to show that they
stand with their teachers.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
A March 5 rally was held at the West Virginia state capitol building in
Charleston. About 5000 teachers and supporters occupied the capitol
building, forcing it to close due to its having reached maximum capacity
as permitted by the fire marshal. An overflow crowd of at least another
thousand filled the outside grounds. Pro-union music and passionate
speeches by labor organizers and activists highlighted the rally.
Dale Lee, head of the West Virginia Education Association (WVEA),
announced to the cheering crowd, “The world is watching, the world is
watching, and our being on national TV for something positive is
igniting a revolution across the nation.”
Jerry Goldberg, a visiting teacher from Detroit, told the strikers, “You
have inspired people in Oklahoma, the struggle is spreading. It is time
for working people to take back our rights, to take back what has been
taken away.” Teachers in Oklahoma and Pittsburgh, energized by events in
West Virginia, are making preparations for their own strikes.
One teacher in the crowd, Kim, pointed out to Socialist Action, “We have
to learn how to organize again, we’ve been de-educated. My mother was an
AFT union member. It is ironic because West Virginia is a mythical place
in the labor movement”—a reference to the Mining Wars of 1912 to 1921,
when workers fought a war for the right to organize.
The mining wars were on the minds of many of the striking teachers. “We
come from an area that is known for standing up for what they believe
in,” Katie Endicott, a high school teacher who brings home less than
$650 per week, said to The New York Times. “The union wars, they
originated in the South in Mingo County. We believe we’re following in
their footsteps.”
The crowd chanted pro-labor slogans between speakers while raising their
fists in unison. Flashing five fingers twice and then a fist, they
referenced “55 Strong,” a slogan capturing the unity of all 55 state
counties for the labor action. Bob, a science teacher, told Socialist
Action, “We learned from state workers in Wisconsin. We won’t demobilize
until documents are signed. We won’t fall for their bait and switch.”
Bob was referencing two issues:
1.Wisconsin workers occupied their own capitol building in 2011,
protesting union-busting legislation by Governor Scott Walker. The
protesters demobilized when union leadership agreed to resolve Walker’s
anti-union plans in the courts. In a blow to labor, the courts ruled for
Walker and against the unions.
2.West Virginia’s governor, Jim Justice, announced an agreement with the
West Virginia Education Association on Feb. 28 for a 5% teacher’s raise
and a 3% state worker raise. Significantly, the agreement failed to
address the insurance issue, which infuriated many teachers. The
walk-out continued. Moreover, the House approved the raises but the
Senate didn’t, on the alleged grounds that there was not enough money to
cover costs. Instead, the Senate offered a 4% increase for teachers.
Union leaders and politicians expected teachers to agree to the 4%
raise. But they didn’t fall for the state government’s tricks and again
voted to continue the strike.
At the same time that West Virginia’s Senate claimed funds weren’t
available for a 5% raise, the legislature passed tax cuts for the Mining
industry. Even Gov. Jim Justice, himself an owner of several mine
companies, agreed with rescinding recent mining company tax breaks to
pay for the raises. Many of the teachers are demanding funding of their
wage increases by rescinding mining company tax breaks.
Unions have been on a long retreat in the United States. In West
Virginia, even miners have suffered defeats. According to The New York
Times, only 5% of miners are unionized. According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, only 10% of workers are in unions nationwide. This is down
from 33% union membership 50 years ago.
West Virginia teachers have taught lessons that were long lost to the
workers’ movement. It doesn’t matter if reactionary laws exist to block
labor organizing. It doesn’t matter if a state is “right-to-work” or
bans strikes altogether. It doesn’t matter when the U.S. Supreme Court
rules in favor of big business. If labor is united, like the WV
teachers, labor can use its power to move the world.
Photos of teachers’ rally in Charleston, W.V., March 5. (Hugh Stephenson
/ Socialist Action)
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March 7, 2018 in Labor, Uncategorized.
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