The West Virginia teachers’ strike, which has become the longest in the state’s history at nine days, ended Tuesday
The Republican legislature and the Republican governor—Jim Justice, the state’s only billionaire—have just conceded to end the historic strike, giving the teachers a 5 percent pay raise and shielding them from any premium increases in their health insurance through next year. That raise would not have happened without the teachers flooding the Capitol building in Charleston for two weeks. It was an impressive surge of energy that seemingly came out of nowhere and closed down all fifty-five county school systems for nine days.
Yet Republican leaders say it will be paid for by cuts to other programs. $82 million in cuts will be needed to fund the pay raises. While it’s still too early to be certain where those cuts will come from, Some of the legislature’s leaders are seeking cuts to Medicaid in order to fund the teachers’ pay rise. According to Republican State Senator Craig Blair, the agreement was reached “without increasing any taxes at all. Now, there’s going to be some pain.” In a conference committee on Tuesday, Blair pointed to $20 million in cuts to general services and Medicaid
Governor Justice admitted that as a condition of giving the teachers the 5 percent raise, he had to commit to the Speaker of the House to sign natural gas industry legislation, called the co-tenancy bill, that would allow a gas company to drill for gas on a parcel where it secured the rights from 75 percent of the mineral holders. Current law requires permission from 100 percent of mineral owners before you drill. The reduced drilling threshold represents, in practice, a license to steal for any developer that can buy up enough rights.
The teachers’ rebellion may next move to Oklahoma, where teachers are signaling they may be ready to strike. As Ginnie Graham writes in Tulsa World, the Oklahoma state legislature passed bipartisan income tax cuts a decade ago, along with oil and gas production tax cuts. Since those cuts, the legislature has cut public education spending by 28 percent.
There was no victory None. There were crumbs. Crumbs took out of the mouth of others in need and simply transferred into a tiny one-time pay raise for the teachers. If they had actually fought for real change, they would have been crushed under the heel of a hundred different attacks. This is the usual capitalist divide and conquer strategy. Those screaming about how great it's going to be for everyone will scream poverty down the line and try to make cuts to essential programs.
The Republican legislature and the Republican governor—Jim Justice, the state’s only billionaire—have just conceded to end the historic strike, giving the teachers a 5 percent pay raise and shielding them from any premium increases in their health insurance through next year. That raise would not have happened without the teachers flooding the Capitol building in Charleston for two weeks. It was an impressive surge of energy that seemingly came out of nowhere and closed down all fifty-five county school systems for nine days.
Yet Republican leaders say it will be paid for by cuts to other programs. $82 million in cuts will be needed to fund the pay raises. While it’s still too early to be certain where those cuts will come from, Some of the legislature’s leaders are seeking cuts to Medicaid in order to fund the teachers’ pay rise. According to Republican State Senator Craig Blair, the agreement was reached “without increasing any taxes at all. Now, there’s going to be some pain.” In a conference committee on Tuesday, Blair pointed to $20 million in cuts to general services and Medicaid
Governor Justice admitted that as a condition of giving the teachers the 5 percent raise, he had to commit to the Speaker of the House to sign natural gas industry legislation, called the co-tenancy bill, that would allow a gas company to drill for gas on a parcel where it secured the rights from 75 percent of the mineral holders. Current law requires permission from 100 percent of mineral owners before you drill. The reduced drilling threshold represents, in practice, a license to steal for any developer that can buy up enough rights.
The teachers’ rebellion may next move to Oklahoma, where teachers are signaling they may be ready to strike. As Ginnie Graham writes in Tulsa World, the Oklahoma state legislature passed bipartisan income tax cuts a decade ago, along with oil and gas production tax cuts. Since those cuts, the legislature has cut public education spending by 28 percent.
There was no victory None. There were crumbs. Crumbs took out of the mouth of others in need and simply transferred into a tiny one-time pay raise for the teachers. If they had actually fought for real change, they would have been crushed under the heel of a hundred different attacks. This is the usual capitalist divide and conquer strategy. Those screaming about how great it's going to be for everyone will scream poverty down the line and try to make cuts to essential programs.
No comments:
Post a Comment