Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, Retired
The recent teachers victories have given new life to the struggle for public education and the salaries and conditions for those who work in it and who are educated by it. Authorization for a strike vote as the Washington Post article below mentions with regard to Los Angeles, is a good thing but it is not uncommon as it is a mild gesture intended to put a little pressure on the boss. In many cases it doesn't even do that if it is not accompanied by preparation so that a strike is not simply "authorized" by the membership but various committees, picketing, outreach (other unions community etc) media, solidarity and more are built. In other words, if the rank and file is not mobilized and prepared at any moment to withdraw labor power. The employer can see it is just a bluff but for the trade union leadership in these cases it gives the impression to the members that they are being tough and it can let off some steam.
The CTA leadership in Los Angeles has also agreed to state mediation later this month which is a tell tale sign that they are not really serious about confronting the bosses' head on. A state or federal mediator is not a neutral party so the bosses have two representative groups at the table. The choice of mediator is a poor substitute for rank and file power. The other aspect of this is that it will most likely be harder for the teachers in the heavily unionized Democratic states (California is often referred to as a one party state as the Dems are so dominant) as the present and stronger union hierarchy will work to temper militancy and keep the movement contained to what is acceptable to the status quo and their Democratic Party allies. The rank and file have been known to disrupt leaderships strategies in the past.
Lastly, as I pointed out in an earlier commentary on the construction strike in Washington State, the NEA and AFT which are national organizations, the NEA being the largest union in the US with more than 3 million members, over 330, 000 in California, does not have and will not introduce a strategy that takes these activities out of their isolated local areas and move toward a national union/community backed strike movement for education including the many school closings that have occurred in places like Chicago with Obama's buddy Rahm Emanuel and in Oakland CA. West Virginia and other state stoppages have opened up a Pandora's box though and this genie will not be put back in the bottle easily. At some point the dam, in the form of the present conservative trade union leadership will be breached. We are seeing a new area in US labor history.
Striking Tacoma Teachers walk a picket line, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018, in front of Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Wash. Fights over teacher salaries and work conditions are escalating along the West Coast, and the disputes are particularly acute in Washington, a state that has infused at least $1 billion for teacher pay to resolve a long-running court battle. (Ted S. Warren/Associated Press)
SEATTLE
— Fights over teacher salaries and working conditions are escalating
along the West Coast, emboldened in part by the momentum from widespread
teacher strikes in more conservative states.
The teachers in these blue states — with robust teachers’ unions, the right to strike and legislatures that are generally more supportive of education funding — are tapping into a shift in public sentiment that supports better wages for teachers that came as a result of the “Red4Ed” protest movement that began earlier this year.
The latest disputes are particularly acute in Washington, a state that has infused at least $1 billion for teacher pay to resolve a long-running court battle. With students returning to school in the last few weeks, teachers in at least 18 public school districts so far have voted to authorize a strike, gone on strike or settled their strikes in order to get pay raises.
“We saw everywhere from Arizona to West Virginia standing up for fair wages. Now that it’s coming to Washington state, we don’t feel isolated. We know we have the support of our local community,” said Connie Vernon, an elementary teacher in the Washougal School District in southwest Washington, where a nine-day walkout ended Thursday.
Rich Wood, spokesman for the state teachers’ union, said local bargaining units at two-thirds of the state’s 295 school systems have sought to renegotiate salaries.
In California, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District also voted last week to authorize a strike, although a walkout isn’t imminent. The union and district in the nation’s second-largest school system have failed to reach an agreement on pay raises, smaller class sizes and other issues. Both sides have filed charges against the other and a state mediation session is scheduled Sept. 27.
The momentum earlier from teacher protests in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Colorado and Arizona has also carried into other kinds of actions, including an organized teacher hunger strike in Georgia and a major rally in North Carolina.
Except for Colorado, all of those states have “right to work” laws, which limits the ability for teachers to strike. Teachers there instead scheduled widespread protest “walkouts.” In West Virginia, teachers won a 5-percent raise even though they lacked collective bargaining rights and had no legal right to strike.
The Washington teachers’ union said it has been fighting for schools funding for more than a decade, and that the timing of their latest contract and strike discussions was coincidental to the national teacher uprising.
Michael Hansen, an education policy expert at the Brookings Institution, said the teachers’ cause is undoubtedly helped by the political dynamics shifting in the national conversation about teacher value.
As the protest movement moves from fiscally-conservative red states without much labor power, Hansen said momentum has shifted to more union-friendly blue states where pay and cost of living are substantially higher. The red-state fights thrived as state-wide actions, while the blue-state disputes are at the district level.
“They sort of feel like a tipping point has been crossed,” Hansen said. “Strategically, if you’re going to advance and advocate for more teacher pay, this is the time.”
More state money toward teacher salaries was funded by the Washington Legislature after a court ruling that stemmed from a 2007 lawsuit. The ruling said the state was violating its own Constitution by inadequately funding K-12 schools.
This year, many of the teachers urged their school districts to reopen bargaining talks in the middle of their contract period in order to settle the pay disparity.
Teachers at Seattle Public Schools, the state’s largest district, had authorized a strike but reached a one-year deal giving them 10.5 percent raises.
In some smaller communities, school district officials have pushed back by suing the unions to get them to work.
The state union is backing all teachers with a new political tactic, ordering for the first time “bargaining season” television, radio and Facebook ads to both put pressure on the districts and urge community members to stand with the teachers. One ad highlights the state’s teacher shortage while saying salaries aren’t competitive in a region flush with tech money.
That’s also a show of force for the unions after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in late June that declared government workers can’t be required to contribute money to labor groups. As the state teachers union flexed its political muscle by spending in such an unprecedented but high-stakes way, local leaders say their membership numbers have not been affected by the ruling even though it has the potential to significantly weaken the revenue base for all labor unions.
Washougal’s superintendent Mary Templeton said the state union relationship with the locals has been affected by these broader elements and that it’s evident by the rush of political activity being carried out by the larger labor group.
She said the district also wants to support teachers with a new salary pay scale.
“We gave a lot because we know how important they are,” Templeton said.
Follow AP Education Reporter Sally Ho on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_SallyHo.
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2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
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