W. Va. teachers learn lessons

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and HAYDEN PERRY After an unprecedented statewide strike, 22,000 teachers in West Virginia voted March 18 to go back to work. The teachers, responding to a combination of threats and promises, ended the strike after 12 days.

It was the first time that West Virginia teachers went out on strike across the state. They had good cause. They rate 49th in the national pay scale, earning less than $22,000 a year. The national average is $30,000. The teachers are represented by the West Virginia National Education Association (WVNEA) with 16,000 members and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) with 3,000 members. The AFT negotiated separately from the larger WVNEA.

The teachers' salary is set by the state government, which has been pleading poverty for years. Since West Virgina has been losing population, its tax base has been eroding. But 10 percent to 20 percent of the coal production, the state's largest industry, has escaped taxation. This costs the state an estimated $60 million a year in revenue.

Instead of raising revenue, West Virginia governors have been robbing the schools, despite the fact that the last three governors were strongly supported by the teachers.

Current governor, Gaston Caperton, has styled himself the "education governor.

UF CUTURE This has not prevented him and his predecessors from underfunding the Teachers Retirement Plan, raising teacher-paid premiums on health plans, and cutting out periods for teacher preparation at school (they now have to do lesson planning on their own time). Caperton also cut a promised 5 percent pay raise to 2.5 percent.

Months of fruitless negotiations were brought to a head Feb. 14 when 5000 members of the West Virginia Education Association marched on the state legislature. The lawmakers offered to levy a special realestate tax for the schools-but only if the teachers promised not to strike.

The teachers did not trust the lawmakers. They refused to give up their only effective weapon. Then the offer was withdrawn.

On March 7 the call for a strike went out. Each county had to call its teachers out separately, but one by one the counties joined the strike until almost all schools in the state (47 counties out of 55) were closed. Gov. Caperton then began making promises and then withdrawing his promises.

He promised to call a special session of the legislature to vote more money for the teachers. He promised the retirement fund would be fully funded. He would also equalize the pay scales in all counties.

The teachers voted to accept these promises as good coin. But after the vote, Caperton denied he had ever promised to call SOCIALIST a special session. The enraged teachers returned to the picketline.

Now Caperton took the offensive. He instructed the county Boards of Education to start hiring scabs to replace the striking teachers. A county court issued an injunction declaring the strike illegal. The state court extended the injunction to the entire state. This was very intimidating to teachers who were engaged in their first strike.

Meanwhile the state legislature tried to break the stalemate by saying they would ask the governor to call a special session after the teachers were back on the job. The governor also put money into the Teachers Retirement Plan, and took steps to equalize pay in all counties.

Their much needed pay raise is still in limbo. If the special session is called, it may concentrate on "reforms" in the school system that squeeze the teachers further. The coal and land interests will resist any new taxes that will be needed to give the teachers a living wage.

However, the fact that 22,000 "conservative" West Virginia teachers went out on strike for 12 days cannot be ignored by the governor and legislature. The teachers grievances are not going to disappear.

This article, based on reports submitted from West Virginia by Steven Johnson, was compiled by Socialist Action staffwriter Hayden Perry.

ACTION APRIL1990 5

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NEVER, GIVE TEACHERS