#1
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i am tentatively excited about the west virginia's teachers strike, partially because i am a public employee, partially because i am strongly considering a career change to teacher, but mostly because it looks like a well-organized labor action dedicated to pursuing this until their demands are met. i would like to help in some way but because i am a bourgeois scumbag professional, i cant up an travel hundreds of miles to join the protest.

for some unknown reason, i trust the judgment of the posters on this forum. i was wondering if you folks know of any strike fund that i can donate money or materials to. ive heard of some but dont know if they are legitimate so i have turned to my favorite not-crazy internet marxists for guidance

we can also use this thread to discuss the strike, the potential for more workers to follow suit (oklahoma, for instance), or whether this "movement" is not marxist and consistently erases class

for example, i think its pretty interesting that the national media, when they cover it at all, focuses on the demands for a raise in pay while ignoring the issue of rising premiums for the public employees insurance agency. it helps the right wing rags paint the teachers as greedy and allows the center right wing rags to ignore the boiling cauldron of resentment against the country's broken health care system
#2
Poronto
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here's the gofundme. unfortunately it was advertised on Chapo and is now tainted forever with the stench of irony racism https://www.gofundme.com/wv-teachers-strike-fund

edit: it may be crusin' to an end though? This new deal doesn't seem to address the health insurance issue, but what i know about strikes is you generally don't get everything you ask for which is why labor activism is empty reformism. don't act, just post

#3
Dont Mess With Sucess
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Settling for a mere wage increase? I guess that's why they're called settlers
#4
Black Belt
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I was under the impression the main thing desired was the healthcare, since the legislature was talking about cutting it
#5
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TG posted:

for example, i think its pretty interesting that the national media, when they cover it at all, focuses on the demands for a raise in pay while ignoring the issue of rising premiums for the public employees insurance agency. it helps the right wing rags paint the teachers as greedy and allows the center right wing rags to ignore the boiling cauldron of resentment against the country's broken health care system


i cant remember a strike here in Straya that hasnt been consistently smeared the same way, with work conditions being the main problem rather than health insurance. notable example in recent times being the planned rail workers strike in sydney. lots of whining from the government, echoed across pretty much all media, that the workers had rejected a very reasonable offer and the union was being unreasonable, ignoring the fact that pay was not the main issue, train drivers wanted more job security and safer conditions because auxilliary staff had been slashed, services made more frequent and the driver pool was shrinking rapidly as drivers left to work for better pay and conditions interstate so overtime for the remaining drivers was getting totally out of control. (in the end the planned strike AND just implemented overtime ban were outlawed because of the economic impact it would have on the state economy, haha ffff)

anyway ganbatte, i think its admirable that anyone in your godforsaken country is even still trying to do education, i wish the teachers well

#6
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so it looks like the strike is about to end with a passage of a 5% wage increase for all public employees. of course, it also looks like the increase will come with corresponding cuts to spending in other areas, including medicaid, and does not address the peia. so that ~$200 a month will almost certainly go toward insurance premiums anyway. sigh

thanks for the gofundme link lgp. looks like you were all too perceptive
#7
"Jpg." - Hank Hill
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lol at yall who thought something good would happen for a moment
#8
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dare to truggle
#9
Poronto
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dont despair, the fact that teachers can band together and squeeze the state govt by the nuts via an FB group means other public employees can do the same, especially if this is the beginning of a wave (as evidenced by similar efforts starting up in Oklahoma and NC). (And one thing that struck me, and i don't think this is the effect of a bubble im in, is the extreme scarcity of ppl on social media complaining about them damn greedy teachers. It was easy to find suburban winemoms and whiskydads getting shitty about BLM and Standing Rock, so it's telling not to see that here.)

e: lmao Twitter
#10
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yes, that's been my admittedly anecdotal experience too. it looks like the organizers did a good job of getting ahead of the pr game on it, arranging for lunches and childcare for students before the walkout. lots of students and parents came out in support and even fox news didnt quote any grumblings about greedy teachers

its one thing for a state with a relative history of labor action like wv to do this. it will be impressive if oklahoma manages something similar

this is also refreshing in light of the scotus case janus v. american federation etc coming up for oral arguments recently which will almost certainly gut public sector workers' rights even further. i dont believe it would have had an effect on wv, though, because they already stripped public workers of the labor rights in question in that state
#11
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Not to be a pessimist but I feel like momentum in the sense of a labor movement is about as valid as momentum in the sense of pro sports, at least in Amerikkka.
#12
UNUSUALY COOL
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correct. both the struggle of the worker and Mark Ingram have incredibly powerful forward momentum.