West Virginia teacher and grassroots strike leader, Olivia Morris, talks about the historic 9 day wildcat strike that lasted from February 22 to March 7, 2018. She is in conversation with Stacy Davis Gates, political director for the Chicago Teachers Union.
This is a personal, very candid conversation about a strike in an anti union right to work state, about alliances between teachers and public workers, a broken down health care system, how low or no taxes for coal and gas extraction diminish the money needed for education and more.
The Chicago Teachers Union described the event this way: “The wildcat strike by West Virginia teachers, among the lowest paid teachers in the nation, has ignited public support across the state and the nation, with teachers in states from Oklahoma to Kentucky looking at strategies to bring the West Virginia model of strike resistance and rank and file democracy to their states.”
“In West Virginia, teachers rejected efforts by political leaders and top union officials to convince them to settle without an iron clad guarantee of improved wages, enshrined in legislation, not just for them but for all state public employees. Teachers struck for those guarantees even though West Virginia is a ‘right-to work’ state which bans strikes by public workers.”
The wildcat strike derailed plans by state legislators to jack up health insurance premiums in the Public Employee Insurance Agency (PEIA) and to jam through a charter school bill being promoted by corporations…. Teachers and their supporters are demanding West Virginia legislators reverse corporate tax cuts, raise gas severance tax and hold harmless any public programs that prioritize the needs of struggling state residents in any plan to fund their raises.”
Thanks to Dale Lehman from WZRD radio in Chicago. He recorded the event on March 9, 2018.
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