Beyond the gross cacophony of the Trump White House, where inane palace intrigue continues to transfix the nation, a very important story is taking place. While the mainstream media has just caught up, it has been months, if not years, in the making – a revolt that may just signal the actual, much-deserved revenge of the working class.

In West Virginia, all of the teachers have been on strike for over a week. Among the very worst paid in America, these teachers are seeking a 5% pay raise and passable health benefits. While a deal seemed to be in place for the teachers to return back to work, the state senate blocked it and the teachers remain on strike, thronging the state capitol with growing support.

Unlike past labor actions, this statewide strike has come without official union backing. Long on the decline in West Virginia, the union representing teachers is both hamstrung by existing laws and too divorced from its militant past to drive an action like this. The teachers walked out on their own, fed up with a status quo that was leaving them nearly destitute.

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The wildcat strike is illegal and the teachers don’t care. It appears, for now, they are winning. Teachers in Oklahoma are contemplating a strike. Others may follow.

Is this a turning point? A breaking point? With the rightwing Neil Gorsuch poised to cast the deciding vote in the Janus v AFSCME, the US supreme court is on the verge of dealing a devastating blow to public sectors unions. If it’s not a deathblow – unions in labor-friendly states will find ways to retain power, while those elsewhere will wither – it’s something not far off.

In West Virginia, there is hope. The first Gilded Age gave rise to labor militancy; oppressed workers across the country proudly organized unions to strike back against the oligarchs who were torturing them day and night. The eight-hour d, vacation days, and all the other labor protections we take for granted were born out of union advocacy.

We are now in a second Gilded Age, with billionaires and hard-right politicians more committed than ever to perpetuating these inequalities. Pro-union Republicans hardly exist. Happily taking their cues from the Koch brothers, rightwing Republican lawmakers across America have done everything they can over the last decide to stamp out organized labor.

Union leaders grasping for a revival should study West Virginia. The teachers are equally radical and savvy, realizing they must help the community at large understand why their fight is so important. With schools shuttered, they have packed meals for students and arranged childcare for parents.

Now is the time for exploited American workers everywhere to take similar action. Donald Trump, despite his posture as a populist, is a mere vessel for the most virulently anti-labor millionaires and billionaires. Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are no better. Weak-willed Democrats pay lip service to organized labor while doing little else other than make appearances at rallies and take a decent vote once in a while.

All the Democrats running for president in 2020 should not only be standing with the teachers of West Virginia but traveling down there themselves to show solidarity. This is the fight that matters. This is America, at the precipice – a hauntingly unequal country that still, despite everything, shows some promise.

But workers should understand politicians will only act if they act first. There will be no Moses for the new labor movement. It will be led by the people on the front lines, the teachers and sanitation workers and healthcare workers and everyone else who keep society afloat while subsisting on relatively little. That is the world we are in. Now we must fight for a better one.