ROCKFORD TEACHERS VICTORIOUS ?
Rockford teachers and the school district have reached a tentative deal. The negotiations went on for almost a year and the teachers worked without a contract for many months. What couldn’t be settled in a year, was magically settled after a two-day strike. Isn’t that amazing ? I will wait to see if both sides ratify and to read the details of the contract before we can declare a major victory for the teachers.
The fact that the deal was reached almost immediately after the strike began, shows once again the importance of teachers and public employees keeping the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike. The average salary and benefits of teachers today are a direct result of the power of collective bargaining and the ability to strike. Anti-union forces have been pushing hard to do away with the power of public unions to bargain collectively and especially the power to strike. These people understand that without the power to strike, public employees would be almost completely impotent when it comes to negotiations.
Just 23 of the Rockford teachers 1,850 members crossed the picket lines on the first day of the strike, and 14
The fact that the deal was reached almost immediately after the strike began, shows once again the importance of teachers and public employees keeping the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike. The average salary and benefits of teachers today are a direct result of the power of collective bargaining and the ability to strike. Anti-union forces have been pushing hard to do away with the power of public unions to bargain collectively and especially the power to strike. These people understand that without the power to strike, public employees would be almost completely impotent when it comes to negotiations.
Just 23 of the Rockford teachers 1,850 members crossed the picket lines on the first day of the strike, and 14
