America would be better off with more strikes
updated 7:42 AM EDT, Mon September 10, 2012
In June, Chicago school teachers protested a decision by the board of education to rescind a 4% annual raise.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- In Chicago, public school teachers are set to go on strike
- Chris Rhomberg: The strike has mostly disappeared from American life
- He says declining union membership isn't the only reason; the laws have changed
- Rhomberg: Weakening of rights to organize and to strike has serious consequences
Editor's note: Chris Rhomberg is an associate professor of sociology at Fordham University. He is the author of "The Broken Table: The Detroit Newspaper Strike and the State of American Labor" (Russell Sage Foundation).
(CNN) -- In Chicago, 30,000 public school teachers and support staff represented by the Chicago Teachers Union are preparing to walk off their jobs, having reached an impasse in contract talks with the city.
And last month, 780 machinists at a Caterpillar Inc. parts plant in Joliet, Illinois, voted to end their three and a half month strike, accepting a six-year contract that contained almost all of the concessions the company demanded. These contemporary