http://themilitant.com/2015/7934/793432.html
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Vol. 79/No. 34 September 28, 2015
—ON THE PICKET LINE—
Maggie Trowe, Editor
Militant/Scott Breen
Striking Seattle school teachers and supporters picket at Rainier Beach
High School Sept. 14.
Help the Militant cover rail, steel, auto
and Verizon contract fights!
This column is dedicated to giving voice to those engaged in battle
and helping build solidarity. National rail and auto contracts are
approaching expiration; ATI Steelworkers are locked out; and union
contracts for basic steel and East Coast Verizon have expired. I invite
those involved in fights against concessions to contact me at 306 W.
37th St., 13th Floor, New York, NY 10018; or (212) 244-4899; or
themilitant@xxxxxxx. We’ll work together to ensure your story is told.
— Maggie Trowe
5,000 Seattle teachers strike
for smaller class size, pay hike
SEATTLE — More than 5,000 teachers, aides and other school employees
represented by the Seattle Education Association went on strike here
Sept. 9, the first day of school.
The teachers’ demands include smaller class size, higher pay,
cost-of-living increases and more funding for public schools. They
oppose the Board of Education’s proposal to lengthen the workday with no
pay raise.
Picket lines were up at every school and spirits were high, buoyed by
support from parents, students and others in the community.
Kathy Oglesby, a retired teacher who was on the bargaining team in 1985
when the teachers last struck, was on the Mercer Middle School picket
line with her daughter and grandson, who attends the school. “It’s a
shame that it comes down to this again. We are standing up for the kids.
It’s the same issues as before.”
“I really feel for the new teachers,” Sultan Mohamed, an art teacher for
22 years, told the Militant. “Many have to work second jobs just to pay
their bills. We must show the school board we mean business.”
Matt Carter, a special education teacher at Franklin High School, said
students and others had brought food to the picket line and even offered
to do child care for picketing teachers. A local Domino’s donated 20
pizzas. “This strike is not just over pay,” said Brian Black, a history
teacher at Franklin. “We are concerned about excess testing and the
inequities in the system that affects minority students.”
—Edwin Fruit
Grain millers in Iowa rally against concession contract
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — More than 100 members of Bakery, Confectionery,
Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union Local 100G and supporters
rallied outside Penford Products Co. here Sept. 4 to demand Ingredion
Inc., Penford’s parent company, withdraw concession demands and
negotiate a contract.
The 160 workers at the plant — which produces potato starches, corn
sweeteners and ethanol — have been working without a contract since Aug.
1. “We rejected the company’s ‘last, best offer’ by 95 percent because
they were asking for more than 100 concessions,” Local President Chris
Eby told the rally.
“I know what it’s like not to have a union,” Ironworker Kris Baker said,
recalling working as a nonunion construction worker before joining the
Ironworkers. He came with fellow unionists to show support.
Local 100G Vice President Matt Maas said this was the second
informational picket line the local had organized, “and don’t expect it
to be the last if the company continues to refuse to give us the
contract we need.” A group of workers were listening to the speeches
during their break across the street at Penford and waved in support.
—Jacquie Henderson and Josefina Otero
Related articles:
Oct. 11 Quebec protest set to demand rail safety
Fight frame-up of rail workers for 2013 disaster
Steelworkers rally against boss cutback demands, ATI lockout
Fight for $15, union drives mark NY Labor Day Parade
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