USA: Teachers Strike Invigorates Labour Movement
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- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
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This is a LabourStart Special Report, one of a series of explainers on hot topics from the pages of LabourStart.
USA: The West Virginia Teachers’ Strike
This reader was originally prepared and published by Rank and File and is reproduced here with permission.
Teachers in West Virginia went on strike on February 22 against low-pay and attacks on their healthcare. After nine days of a statewide strike which shutdown public schools in West Virginia teachers won a substantial pay increase. This victory is significant because the teachers struck and won in the heart of Trump country. West Virginia is also a right-to-work state and the successful teachers strike shows that you can organize and win even if the law is against you.
This is an important lesson for all unions as the unions in the United States will most likely see the Supreme Court expand right-to-work conditions to the entire public sector in the United States via the Janus case. West Virginia’s teachers went on strike, rejected a rotten deal and have now lit a fire under teachers unions across the country. Teachers and all trade unionists should look to the West Virginia teachers’ strike for lessons about how to organize and win even when the law and politicians are lined up against you. Below is a list of readings about the strike, how it was organized, what it won, and why it is significant:
The Lesson From West Virginia Teachers? If You Want to Win, Go on Strike by Miles Kampf-Lassin
What the Teachers Won interview with Emily Comer/ Jay O’Neal
The teachers united couldn’t be defeated by Khury Petersen-Smith and Dana Blanchard
WV Teachers Show Us How to Fight the ‘Janus’ Attack by Robert Belano and William Lewis
The West Virginia Strike Points a Path Forward for the Labor Movement by Jane McAlevey
West Virginia teachers’ triumph offers fresh hope for US workers’ rights by Mike Elk
It Was About the Insurance Fix by Meagan Day
Striking West Virginia teachers show the way by Kevin Prosen
West Virginia teachers won’t back down by Michael Mochaidean
West Virginia’s Militant Minority by Eric Blanc
Inside the West Virginia teachers’ rebellion by Tyler Barton and Lori Boegershausen
When the Rank and File Leads by Cathy Kunkel
There Is No Illegal Strike, Just an Unsuccessful One by Joe Burns
West Virginia Teachers Are Now Out on a Wildcat Strike. The Labor Movement Should Follow Their Lead by Katie Aronoff
West Virginia Teachers Launch Statewide Strike by Jonah Furman and Dan DiMaggio
Teacher unrest spreads to Oklahoma, where educators are “desperate for a solution” by Rachel M. Cohen
Eric Lee and Derek Blackadder
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