There’s a diary up now about the call for a strike by aviation workers as a way to end the shutdown and I realized that I haven’t seen much about the truly amazing victory of the strike by the teachers in LA. This needs more attention.
The upshot: complete victory. They went on strike for one week and got basically everything they wanted, with no concessions. And they wanted a lot.
Some of the most important wins for LA public schools include: a full-time nurse in every school, as well as additional counselors and librarians; the elimination of Section 1.5 of the contract (that allows the district to ignore class size caps); a steady decrease in class size across the board; a 6 percent pay raise with no trade-off health-care concessions; increased union oversight regarding charter co-locations; political support for a statewide moratorium on charters; and a wide range of steps forward regarding common good demands such as expanding community schools, ending racist “random searches,” building green spaces at schools, and establishing an immigrant defense fund.
This wasn’t just a strike for more pay (not that there’s anything wrong with that). They had wide-ranging concerns, most of which impact their students as much as themselves. And the larger story of the UTLA strike was a kind of last stand against a school board, elected by well-financed special interests, who were intent on replacing public schools with charter schools.
This strike was incredibly well-organized— it involved some 32,000 members and 15,000 community supporters not just refusing to work, but showing up at rallies across the city, and providing services for people affected by the strike.
It’s worth noting that their large number of wide-ranging demands strengthened their position, because it tapped into the needs of the broader community, who then backed the strike. Popular sentiment was on their side, because they weren’t just fighting for themselves, they were fighting for their community.
Teachers across the country have been showing their strength and solidarity. Politicians have noticed:
Prominent Democrats — and presidential hopefuls — including Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, all issued statements in support for the striking teachers.
I wonder if there is a UTLA member on dKos who worked on the strike who would be willing to post about it? I’ve admired it from afar but would love to hear from someone on the ground.
And if they have any advice for the teachers in Denver...
