NM

We thought we had already won this — we walked out in February and defeated this bill in one day. But the privatizers are relentless, and they’ve waited until summertime, when we don’t have the possibility to strike. Educators are tired, not only because we already fought this battle, but because it’s the end of the school year. Even without all these attacks, many people are wiped out by this time of the year.

But the West Virginia Public Employees United page [on Facebook] is increasingly active, and people are engaged. We’ve had good crowds at the capitol. Folks are tired, but they want to fight back and win.

Before the 2018 strike, it was different. There were only about fifteen to twenty of us across the state who would engage. Because of our successful strikes, there’s definitely been a renewal here. Now you have people who may never come to union meeting, but who are ready to walk on a picket line. In forums or meetings, there are all sorts of people who now come forward to ask a question or raise an idea.

And our folks are angry. When you’re constantly attacked by billionaires like Betsy DeVos and these senators, it’s hard not to get angry. I’m hopeful because folks here now have what I call “Mingo County syndrome,” this idea that “we’ve led the way, so we can’t back down now.” Educators are proud of what we’ve achieved. West Virginians are used to being the butt of jokes; now we want to keep on pointing the way forward for working people across the United States. We want to say that we beat them not once, not twice, but three times.

I wrote a short blog piece called “Hold My Pepperoni Roll” where I made a case for why we have this opportunity and responsibility to stop something truly destructive. The bill passed in the Senate, but we have a much better chance of defeating it in the House, which has always been more susceptible to our pressure. The House is going back into session on June 17, so we have a bit of time to get more organized and mobilized. We’re going to continue reaching out to our co-workers, our community, and other labor unions in West Virginia.

This Sunday, all union presidents, from all counties and from all education unions, are meeting to come up with a plan of action. We can’t play nice, we can’t say we’ll accept any version of privatization or any further penalization of our right to strike. Hell no. This isn’t just about us, it’s about our children. We’re the protectors of their future.