US teachers declare victory
On Tuesday 6 March teachers in West Virginia, USA, were celebrating winning all five of their demands after a nine-day statewide strike and included an occupation of the Capitol. Teachers defeated an expansion of charter schools (similar to academy schools in the UK), a proposal to eliminate seniority, and a ″paycheck-protection″ bill which would have ended union dues being collected from pay. They won a significant pay rise and a mechanism to change unfair health-insurance practices. Lois Weiner, writing for New Politics just before the strike won, explains how teachers organised. This was a...