Tacoma teacher strike over

[Generic Other]

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/09/22/1835392/contract-ratified-tacoma-teacher.html

They won everything they asked for and more!

Governor Gregoire (Democrat) locked the bargaining team in her office with district negotiators and forced the district to concede. She told the district that any union in the state who accepted the contract they offered would be insane.


That's how Democrats get things done!!!

So glad it is over.

One DUer managed to make the front page of dozens of national papers. I call him ball and chain man.

[valerief]

1. Wonderful news! nt

[teddy51]

2. Good news, thank you Governor Gregoire. And thanks for

posting this OP.

[Generic Other]

3. Thanks to all who supported striking teachers

Believe me they appreciated it.

Now the striking longshoremen need our support as they are being arrested at this very moment on the picket lines.

[me b zola]

4. K&R

[Generic Other]

5. Illiterate letters to the editor far outweigh clever ones at the moment

I just have a feeling though some DU wag wrote this one:

Teachers are again to blame. The ratifying of this new contract caused
the DOW to drop 400 points... Rain is predicted this Sunday due to
teachers strike. Scones at the Puyallup fair are not as delicious as
usual, damn teachers. They are to powerful and have a hold of all walks
of life. Soylent Green is People!!!

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/09/22/1835392/contract-ratified-tacoma-teacher.html#ixzz1YireJmBy

[TeamsterDem]

6. Congrats!!!!! nt

[Generic Other]

7. We fought and we won!!

It feels so good.

[TeamsterDem]

9. I know that sweet taste of victory, my friend

And you deserve to savor it. I know this is bandied about a lot online, but your story actually made me smile (the victory, I mean). And I'm not even a teacher. :)

Solidarity, sister or brother!!!! (don't know which applies to you)


:toast: :party: :bounce: :headbang:

[Generic Other]

12. Our longshoremen brothers who marched with us

They are still locked in a struggle. So only a small victory in a larger war, I think.

Thanks for the support. And may it be the first of many uprisings across the nation!

Your Union sister!

[TeamsterDem]

18. I agree, sister

The struggle of labor is every day of the year, sadly. It's beautiful when we win one (or 600), but we can never take our eyes off the ball in terms of the broader fight.

But take today and enjoy it. It's true that we always have to fight, but dammit we deserve celebrations here and there!!! :D

[Shagbark Hickory]

8. SEE! I kept saying to the wisconsin people, you gotta strike. Show them u mean bizniz!

[Generic Other]

10. But our Democratic governor helped the union

by beating the crap out of the school superintendent and the district. She once won millions in settlement from the tobacco industry. She's tough as nails in a courtroom. She kicked ass!

This state still has a radical backbone. I am so proud of everyone! I can't stop smiling.

[Shagbark Hickory]

11. You deserve pizza. Where is your free pizza?

I'm very happy for you.

[Generic Other]

13. And maybe our boldness will inspire the next revolt

We can only hope, right?

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Two Unin actions that have succeeded

the first did not end in strike, the grocers here locally, and this...

Labor is now flexing muscles.

[Generic Other]

19. Teamster Prez Hoffa was in town to support warehouse strikers

The longshoremen ILWU are defying an injunction against them as well.

Reuters:
Twelve longshoremen's union protesters were arrested on Wednesday for trying to block a train from entering a grain terminal in Washington state as labor tensions flared again at the Port of Longview.

Ten of the demonstrators, including the wives and mothers of some port workers, were detained on charges of criminal trespass and obstructing a train, said Jerusha Kasch, a spokeswoman for the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/21/us-longshoremen-arrests-idUSTRE78K7TC20110921

The longshoremen marched with the teachers. I stand with them as well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Absolutely

We are one

[Eyerish]

15. Wonderful news!!

Congrats teachers!! :bounce: :toast:

[Generic Other]

16. After eight grueling days marching

it's funny anyone has enough energy to bounce, but they do!!! We are doing the happy dance in Tacoma tonight.

[iemitsu]

17. generic, thank you for posting this thread.

i'm the guy with the ball and chain in the op photo and i am thrilled that we will be back in the classroom tomorrow.
as generic pointed out, the contract we won is much better than we thought we might end up with. the strike and walking the picket line was a roller-coaster ride, great moments of camaraderie, good food, great music (led by generic) and then moments of worry and despair. i am glad it is over and i am humbled by those who walked with dr. king into selma in 1965. what they did was scary, what we did was just difficult.
it is good when justice prevails.
thank you to all the DUers who offered help and encouragement. it was vital to our success.

[Generic Other]

20. I am walking on air!

Which my blisters thank me for! LOL.

[Generic Other]

22. shoutout to DU from some union member on the We Teach Tacoma page on FB

"I'm not the only one feeling some personal pride for Tacoma today.

Thank you Wisconsin for your support too.

Besides local and state news, just some of the media folks watching and reporting on the beautiful rising in Tacoma: CNN International, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, USA Today, The Register-Guard, Christian Science Monitor, NPR, Forbes, The Washington Post, Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Democratic Underground, CBSNews, The Washington Examiner, The Los Angeles Times..."

[iemitsu]

33. "the tacoma rising"

i like that.

[fishwax]

23. way to go, Tacoma Teachers!

:woohoo:

:kick:

[femmocrat]

24. Excellent! Glad to hear it ended well for the teachers.

:applause:

[Starry Messenger]

25. k&r

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Terrific!!

Good job, Tacoma teachers!!! :applause:

[Generic Other]

27. Maybe the message will get across

that we are not willing to destroy our schools for NCLB.

[senseandsensibility]

28. So happy for you!

I was wondering why I wasn't hearing anything lately. I hope your local media, which I understand was mostly against the strike, reports fairly on this. Since they couldn't control the outcome, thought, they'll probably just brush this aside and move on like it never happened. You won because you had the community on your side, and the corporate media hates that more than anything.

[iemitsu]

31. we did have the community on our side.

many parents and students walked with us each day. churches fed us and opened their doors and parking lots for our convenience. people honked in support as they drove by. representatives from many other unions joined us, they paid for the venue where we voted to continue the strike after being ordered back to class.
i think the district, and their paid negotiators (hit men from gates, eli broad, and heritage foundations) miscalculated the pulse of tacoma.
because we have high poverty and little employment opportunity (blue collar town that lost its industries) they probably thought we were an easy mark.
besides the working class and pro-union base, the tacoma power elites are and have always been supportive of the public schools.
they picked the wrong city to stage their little coup.

[Matariki]

29. Woot! That's great news!

And a shoutout to my governor! Good work!

[socialist_n_TN]

30. Yep, we've got to stand together or we WILL hang

separately. I wish EVERY labor union would get into the habit of supporting every other labor union that's on strike. Of course, that's illegal, but who cares? Everything that you do that supports the working class is potentially or actually illegal.

[JVS]

32. Congratulations!

[upi402]

34. Governor Gregoire is great! I hope Inslee is elected there next...

I saw him testify in John Conyers 'Downing Street Memo' hearings in the basement. Jay Inslee is a real Democrat, one of the few.

Grats to the Tacoma teachers union and workers.