'We're militant again': US teachers at convention galvanized by wave of strikes
Thousands of teachers gathered in Pittsburgh to discuss plan of action for new school year after strikes over pay and conditions
View All AFT Convention 2018 Videos HERE
Thousands of teachers gathered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this weekend for the American Federation of Teachers’ convention and to discuss a plan of action for the new school year after a series of extraordinary strikes across the US over pay and conditions.
The convention comes as the teachers’ union movement has been galvanized by a wave of strikes, mainly in traditionally Republican states. At the same time, public sector unions are facing a brand new assault on their finances after the supreme court ruled in June that public sector employees in unionized workplaces can opt out of paying union dues.
Addressing the meeting on Friday, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said: “We have to gear up again, because the challenges we face now are truly unlike any we have seen for some time.”
However, teachers gathered in Pittsburgh say that instead of being deterred by the attacks on them that the attacks have forced their union’s member to re-engage more in order to keep members from leaving their unions.
“Whose schools? Our schools,” cried out Chicago Teachers Union vice-president Jesse Sharkey as thousands of teachers poured out of the David L Lawrence convention center and into the blistering heat of Pittsburgh’s streets.
“We are all militant again, we will all go to jail if we have to,” said Robert Russo, a teacher union leader from New Jersey who served 15 days in jail in 1970 for his role in an illegal teachers strike. “They are taking away rights, they are taking away everything we have worked for years and people are very invigorated.”
Despite school being out for the summer, teachers around the country aren’t taking a break. They are mobilizing support for more teachers strikes in states across the country including in Louisiana, where a survey of 3,800 teachers in May performed by the union showed that 61% of teachers supported a strike. Continue Reading: 'We're militant again': US teachers at convention galvanized by wave of strikes | US news | The Guardian
View All AFT Convention 2018 Videos HERE
