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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Teachers Win Big in WV

Teachers Win Big in WV

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The Senate folded:

West Virginia lawmakers said Tuesday morning that a deal has been reached to deliver a 5% pay raise for all state employees, including striking teachers, according to the state committee meeting on the matter.

The deal is intended to end a teachers’ strike that has canceled nine consecutive school days across the state. Teachers’ union representative Christine Campbell told CNN she anticipates school will back in session Wednesday if the bill is passed Tuesday in the House of Delegates and Senate.

At a legislative conference committee meeting Tuesday to resolve the issue, Republican state Sen. Craig Blair said the new deal represents the largest pay raise in state history. There will be no tax increase to offset the raise, and Blair said the government will see a $20 million reduction in spending to come out of cuts to general services and Medicaid.

Not happy with the cuts to medicaid, but there is apparently $58 million in surplus revenue (I don’t honestly understand), so hopefully that will be applied to PEIA once that commission gets going. Who knows. I hope this starts a wave of teacher strikes.

Reader Interactions

74Comments

  2. 2.

    Villago Delenda Est

    They should tax the living shit out of the salaries of Big Coal executives to ease the Medicaid cuts.

  6. 6.

    RSA

    Blair said the government will see a $20 million reduction in spending to come out of cuts to general services and Medicaid.

    Of course. Someone has to feel pain, and the poor and sick are the easiest target.

    For what it’s worth, I came across this in the Post the other day, from 2017:

    In the United States, the [2017 Education at a Glance] report said, starting teachers earn more than in the other included countries — about $42,500 in elementary school compared with the OECD average of $31,000. But American teachers earn on average only up to nearly 60 percent than other professionals with similar education levels, “the lowest relative earnings across all OECD countries with data,” it said.

  8. 8.

    ? Martin

    The WV surplus reminded me of a tweet from the other day:

    California Gov. Jerry Brown took office in 2011 with a $27 billion deficit. He won voter support for huge tax hikes on the rich in 2012, and voters reauthorized them in 2016. Brown leaves office w/a $6.1 billion surplus.
    Take a note: Taxing the rich works.

    More rich people live in CA than any other state. We have more rich people per capita than any other state. Taxing them doesn’t necessarily make them leave. But rich people have kids, and overall participate in society in the same ways as everyone else most of the time and if your legislators think that cutting services to deliver tax cuts is a good idea, take note that Beyonce goes to the same public hospital in LA as everyone else, run by UCLA. When you cut public infrastructure, when you undermine schools, you’re undermining the same systems that the rich use and don’t mind paying taxes for.

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    I am not seeing anything about their health insurance coverage Is it fair to assume they got what they wanted there, too? Why is that not being reported?

  10. 10.

    geg6

    I read where Oklahoma teachers are watching this closely and considering doing the same there.

    This would be wonderful.

  11. 11.

    ? Martin

    @RSA: Some of that difference is due to other failed policies in the US. Lots of regions in CA need to pay teachers substantially more because the cost of housing is completely out of hand. That’s not a problem with education policy but of housing policy that has spilled over which the education sector simply has to contend with.

  12. 12.

    ? Martin

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, that’s my question as well. My understanding is that the pay rate wasn’t the driving issue, rather the change in benefits.

  13. 13.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    They should tax the living shit out of the salaries of Big Coal executives to ease the Medicaid cuts.

    Yeppers. Because as Willie Sutton would say, that’s where the money is.

  15. 15.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    When I started working at an attorney’s office in 1996 the receptionist there was a qualified and licensed teacher. Her elder sister was an associate attorney at the firm. I asked her why she was not working as a teacher and she told me that first year teachers in NC earned 14K a year. She couldn’t live on that and pay the state health insurance and retirement premiums as well and be able to live. The deductions for both of those things took her take home pay down to below minimum wage levels.

  16. 16.

    Victor Matheson

    From an economic standpoint, one very important point to note is how the teachers union managed to get raises for all of the other state employees as well. This is clearly a case of free riding as the teachers unions did all of the work and everyone benefits.

    Of course the very concept of free riding is likely to be completely dismissed by the Supreme Court, turning the entire country into a right-to-work state.

  17. 17.

    randy khan

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    They should tax the living shit out of the salaries of Big Coal executives to ease the Medicaid cuts.

    What makes you think that any of those executives actually live in West Virginia? (I don’t know one way or the other personally, but it would seem unlikely.)

  19. 19.

    Mike J

    @Victor Matheson:

    how the teachers union managed to get raises for all of the other state employees as well. This is clearly a case of free riding as the teachers unions did all of the work and everyone benefits.

    The janitors et al who work in the schools were also on strike. They worked just as hard on this as the teachers.

    @randy khan:

    What makes you think that any of those executives actually live in West Virginia?

    One of them is governor.

  21. 21.

    Kay

    @WaterGirl:

    I am not seeing anything about their health insurance coverage

    It’s a good question but I wish the two issues wouldn’t be divided out like that. Their health insurance is part of their pay. That’s the pay deal and they include the whole package and consider it all “pay” like any rational people should.

    We’ve done this wacky thing in this country where we’re like “plus benefits!” as if those are a freebie that employers generously provide out of the goodness of their hearts. It’s all compensation.

    It kills me with public employees. People are like “plus retirement!”. It’s just pay. If you cut their health benefits you cut their pay. “Pension” is just deferred compensation.

    We only break this out for middle class people. No one says “the CEO got 11 million dollars PLUS health insurance” or “he got 11 million dollars PLUS retirement”. FOX business will say “auto workers make X but it’s REALLY X+Y because we generously ‘give” them this or that. It’s not a gift. Employers don’t give gifts.

  22. 22.

    Brachiator

    The Senate folded

    Very cool!

    My day started out pretty bad, so it’s nice to see a bit of good news.

    @Victor Matheson:

    From an economic standpoint, one very important point to note is how the teachers union managed to get raises for all of the other state employees as well. This is clearly a case of free riding as the teachers unions did all of the work and everyone benefits.

    I understand that janitors were also on strike, so this is not a clear case of “free riding.” But it is doubly good to know that other state workers will benefit as well.

  23. 23.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Victor Matheson:

    From an economic standpoint, one very important point to note is how the teachers union managed to get raises for all of the other state employees as well. This is clearly a case of free riding as the teachers unions did all of the work and everyone benefits.

    I’m not sure of the point you’re making here. I see it more as building up solidarity. The more widely shared the benefits of a strike are, the more people there will be who will support strikes in the future.

    Of course the very concept of free riding is likely to be completely dismissed by the Supreme Court, turning the entire country into a right-to-work state.

    The Supreme Court, if they decide the case as expected, would be saying free riding is an employee right.

  24. 24.

    Jager

    As the father of two teachers, one in California and the other in Oregon, to say I’m pleased is an understatement.

  25. 25.

    MattF

    From what I read, the teachers, the WV Governor, and the WV House were all being simultaneously stabbed in the back by the WV Senate leadership. It’s important to watch now and see if there was a mutual suicide pact or whether someone actually got what they wanted. We shall see.

  26. 26.

    patroclus

    I’m pleased that they got what was negotiated, extended that to all state employees, and increased solidarity amongst the unions, but I wouldn’t necessarily call this a “big win.” The health care needs to be fully funded and taking the funds from medicare and other state services has a “rob Peter to pay Paul” ring about it. Getting rid of the Republicans and changing the politics of the state long-term would be more important, in my view. Even with a 5% raise, they’ll still be poorly paid, in my opinion as well.

  29. 29.

    TenguPhule

    @low-tech cyclist:

    The Supreme Court, if they decide the case as expected, would be saying free riding is an employee right.

    Worse. They’ll be pulling a Citizens United and pretending that Free Riding does not exist.

    My Union has already battened down the hatches and warned our people what’s coming since 2016.

    Gorsch and friends are going to gut worker rights across the board. And remember, this fucking case will be used as springboard precedent under the new “I don’t like this, therefore I do not want to pay for it” fig leaf standard.

    This is going to end badly.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    @Kay: I completely agree, Kay. Can you suggest a better way that I could have used to frame the question to acknowledge that?

    Not being snarky or snotty, I really believe that language can have a big affect over time. Like right to life and death tax. I hate the Republicans for being so much better at that than we are.

  32. 32.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @? Martin: That and someone with a masters could quite easily land a far better job that a 30K a year teaching job in urban California. In the 90s Wilson and the Republicans were going to show the teachers who was boss, screamed about how 30K a year was horribly over paid, froze their wages during the Dotcom boom, so the teachers quit in droves and they ended up paying more like 60K a year to get them back.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    a 5% pay raise for all state employees

    Does that happen to include salaries of state legislators and the governor?

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    Ought to be a wake-up call or sorts to those who question the purpose or utility of unions.

    But won’t be.

  36. 36.

    joel hanes

    ‘A thing is about to happen which has not happened since the Elder Days: the Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong.’
    ‘What will they do?’ asked Legolas in astonishment.
    ‘I do not know,’ said Gandalf.
    ‘I do not think they know themselves.’

  37. 37.

    WaterGirl

    @NotMax: I’m not sure that’s still true. I think the Parkland kids have shaken up a lot more than the gun control massacre elimination issue.

    There is talk of a possible state-wide teacher’s strike in the state ranked 49th, and rumblings in Kentucky, as well.

  41. 41.

    trollhattan

    @zhena gogolia:
    “Michelle Xi” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue but yes, I’m objective pro more-Michelle generally.

    Somewhere within the bowels of the Koch-Republican machine is a discrete group of individuals tasked with strategizing how to destroy a Michelle O. presidential run. I believe there is a zero chance of that happening–she knows the office far to well to want it–but she frightens the holy fvck out of them, which makes me smile.

  44. 44.

    Kay

    @WaterGirl:

    I don’t know – I only know it when I see it. Like the definition of pornography :)

    It leads to these insane debates, where people say “it’s public money” when it’s public employee compensation. When does it turn into their money? Never? The public owns their pay for eternity? You saw it with health care. “We can’t buy birth control because we’re religious”. Well, luckily you’re not buying it – your employees are, with the compensation you traded for their services. I just want some clarity. When does this money actually change hands? We need a bright line. Conservatives have taken this “fungability” argument into ludicrous territory.

    One of the arguments in the SCOTUS case is “the public” shouldn’t pay union fees. I’m not paying union fees. I pay teachers and then I assume the money is no longer mine. I don’t retain control over it forever.

  45. 45.

    RSA

    @? Martin:

    Some of that difference is due to other failed policies in the US.

    I had similar thoughts even about WV, I think. Some of the news reports (and posts/comments here) pointed out that WV teachers’ salaries are ranked 48th or 49th among U.S. states. One obvious challenge is that WV per capita income is also ranked 48th or 49th among U.S. states… We (as a country) don’t seem to be very good at handling systematic inequalities, historically.

  46. 46.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    When does this money actually change hands?

    Never.

    Because Republicans believe that your money is always their money. Always.

  47. 47.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    One of the arguments in the SCOTUS case is “the public” shouldn’t pay union fees.

    Technically its more “as a member of a union who has gotten benefits from it for many years, I have decided that I no longer want to pay for it since I am retiring soon and Republicans have offered to support me as I shit the dining table where everyone else was planning to eat after me” kind of deal along with a heaping dose of “the taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for government unions, never mind that government can require people to work and deny them the ability to strike by government fiat. But spending more to privatize government services through contractors makes perfect sense because Free Market, bitches!”

  48. 48.

    Kelly

    Rock solid pensions and health care for all would be a great economic stabilizer. Oregon started offering increased pension benefits as deferred compensation during a recession in the 70’s. It became the standard in subsequent recessions. I think it’s a good thing. It keeps taxes from climbing during downturns and is an obscure way around the part of the 50 little Hoovers problem. Unfunded government pension debt like Social Security and the Post Office Pension funding is a right wing boogeyman to hide their real agenda behind.

  49. 49.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @rikyrah: I have been wondering if any other FLOTUS would have taken the time and effort to actually do this. I can’t think of one. I repeat myself Michelle is da bomb!

  52. 52.

    Kay

    @TenguPhule:

    I have decided that I no longer want to pay for it

    Guffaw. After listening to conservative arguments for FIFTY YEARS I have decided most of them boil down to “I don’t want to PAY for… stuff!”

    Me neither! But that’s not an ideology, really.

  53. 53.

    kindness

    Does PEIA cover government employees as well as teachers? That has been my assumption.

  54. 54.

    catclub

    @? Martin:

    More rich people live in CA than any other state. We have more rich people per capita than any other state.

    I believe the first one. I thought Connecticut or MA or Wyoming would win on per capita.

    What measure of rich people?

  56. 56.

    catclub

    @Kay: First entry on keynes and conservatism:

    “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” –

    ETA: I think either superior or moral can be dropped without loss of generality.

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    Good for the teachers.

    I would like to see a LOT of strikes, and a lot of marches, in the coming months. On numerous issues. It energizes the marchers and their supporters, even if the MSM refuses to cover it (unless Tea Partiers are out there, the little darlings).

  60. 60.

    catclub

    @WaterGirl:

    Why is that not being reported?

    Because then the reporting would have been too informative, discuss actual grievances, when surface reporting (5%? yes or no?) would be much easier.

  61. 61.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    But that’s not an ideology, really.

    It is the ideal of :”I got mine, Fuck You.”

    This is who they are Kay, the skin suit is off and the lizards are looking back at us.

  62. 62.

    Immanentize

    @low-tech cyclist: If the Supreme Court decides that non-union members can opt out of “maintenance fees,” then Unions have a bunch of options left. For example, they will probably go to a fee-for services model where they could charge non-union members for things like grievance representation. They could also bargain for some member-only benefits as long as those did not violate EEOC type standards. The NLRA does not require everyone to be in the Union, that is just the most convenient way for businesses to deal with such problems…. In short, this is going to create a HUGE headache for businesses in negotiations, in addition to diminishing Union coffers.

    If Steve from Atlanta is here, I would love to hear his take.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    This Oklahoma thing is just wild:

    Oklahoma City is in. “The Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education is in full support of our teachers and stands ready to take any steps necessary to improve conditions for our teachers – including a districtwide suspension of classes.”

    @mattdpearce
    1h1 hour ago
    More
    A word on how organizing is working in Oklahoma: What you’d normally think of as “management” — school boards, superintendents — are clearing the decks to cancel school so teachers can go on strike. It’s like if the schools, and not just the teachers, were to go on strike.

  64. 64.

    Kay

    Okay, so I’m fascinated with “schools, not teachers, going on strike”

    So in say, Baltimore, where they didn’t have heat in some schools they could refuse to open until they get heat.

    This is a new idea, and it’s out of radically liberal Oklahoma.

  65. 65.

    Duane

    @patroclus: Jackass republicans had to punish other people to suit their spiteful nature. Tell them no deal if it includes cuts that harm the neediest in WV. The teachers have them cornered. Make the depraved, shameless politicians pay till it hurts.

  66. 66.

    Immanentize

    Here is a question on the money is speech and corporations are people question — why are individuals barred from filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protections. Corporations get to do so, restructure, etc. Isn’t that an equal protection violation based on your status as, you know, an organic life form?

  67. 67.

    Yutsano

    @Immanentize: That theory could be tested in court, although finding someone who could afford the attorney after the bankruptcy filing would be complex. And it’s all pretty much federal law, which makes it even more pricey.

    Shorter me: have fun storming the castle!

  68. 68.

    Brachiator

    @catclub:

    @? Martin:

    More rich people live in CA than any other state. We have more rich people per capita than any other state.

    I guess that this explains why California must be punished. From a 2014 NBC story:

    According to a new report by Wealth-X and UBS, there are now 69,560 Americans worth $30 million or more, which Wealth-X refers to as “ultra-high net worth individuals.” These super rich are highly concentrated on the coasts in New York and California, with the two states adding the largest number of super-rich residents over the past year.

    California’s population of ultra-high net worth residents grew 7 percent, to a total of 13,445. That’s higher than the total for the entire United Kingdom, which has 11,510 ultra-high net worth residents. Almost all of California’s super rich were located in San Francisco (5,460) and Los Angeles (5,135).

    California was number 1, New York number 2, Texas number 3.

  69. 69.

    Victor Matheson

    @Brachiator: I didn’t know about the janitors. Good for them and thanks for the information. However, employees in all sorts of non-education state agencies apparently got raises thanks to the efforts of educators (including custodians). This shows the positive spillover effects of unions on wage even in non-unionized industries. For all of the non-unionized workers out there who hate the unions, they would do well to remember that this really is a case where the phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats” does actually apply.

  70. 70.

    James E. Powell

    @Immanentize:

    It isn’t an equal protection violation, but it is an equal protection question. It would almost certainly be given the rational basis test, which defers judgment to the legislature, and would almost certainly be approved.

  71. 71.

    Leto

    @Kelly: I know this is now a dead thread, but when you mentioned the Post Office it reminded me of the great Charlie Pierce series of articles concerning the Post Office. At the moment I can only find one of the three (I’m at work and limited in my search abilities): The Post Office Is Not an Other. The Post Office Is Us.

    Edit: I specifically wanted to highlight this part:

    As has become clear over the past five years, conservative politicians have decided that we don’t need a post office any more. Under cover of technology, and using the rise of e-mail as an alibi, the Congress quite deliberately has engaged in a campaign to make the United States Postal System an unsustainable concern. They’ve done it quite well, actually. In 2006, when nobody was paying attention, a lame duck session of Congress, in which there was still a Republican majority, passed a neat little poison-pill called the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which required the USPS to pre-fund 75 years worth of health-care benefits over the next 10 years. (No other government entity ever has been required to do anything like this.) Among other things, this prevented the USPS from raising rates, or doing anything else that would lift the weight of the fiscal millstone that had been hung upon it. That this was a deliberate act of sabotage was revealed by the fact that a report indicated that, absent this pre-payment requirement, the USPS would be running a profit of $2.5 billion. With the requirement, the service is $24 billion in the hole.

  72. 72.

    catclub

    @Leto: I would have thought that under the walk and chew gum at the same time, principle, the Democrats and Obama could have repealed said law in 2009, but it looks like they did not – nor made a stink about it when the GOP filibustered repeal.

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