Carnegie, Steel and the Busting of Teachers Unions (Part II)
In Part I, I described how education reformers, taking a play out of the Andrew Carnegie union-busting playbook, have been working to deskill the teaching profession, thus weakening the power of teachers unions. When teachers become easily replaceable with semi-skilled workers, like Teach For America candidates, substitute teachers and proctors, the unions will find it much more difficult to win strikes, as administrators or politicians will be able to simply fire them all or lock them out. The problem is that the unions have not been using the strike much at all lately, perhaps in part because they believe they are not strong enough to win. This may be a tragic miscalculation, not only for teachers, but for the children who depend on their skill, expertise and passion.
But first, what are the immediate lessons for teachers and their unions?
Lessons for Teachers and Their Unions
Carnegie was able to crush the AAISW through a combination of downsizing, speed ups, deskilling and military force. Teaching has not yet been deskilled to the point where teachers
Today in Labor History—July 29
July 29, 1900 – King Umberto of Italy was assassinated by Italian anarchist Gaetano Bresci, as revenge for the army's crushing of the worker's insurrection in Milan, May 1898, in which they killed hundreds of workers. Bresci was arrested and later found strangled in his cell at Santo Stefano Prison, on May 22nd, 1901.
July 29, 1903 – The first delegation from Mother Jones’ March of the Mill Children arrived at Teddy Roosevelt's summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, to publicize the harsh conditions of child labor. They weren’t allowed through the gates. (From the Daily Bleed)
July 29, 1970 – After five years on strike, the United Farm Workers finally won a contract with California grape growers. (From Workday Minnesota