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NEWS & LETTERS, October-November 2006Unity in Detroit teachers' strikeDetroit—Unity was strong among the nearly 10,000 members of the Detroit Federation of Teachers on strike. The 16-day strike ended Sept. 13, allowing the Detroit Public Schools to re-open the next day. A history of betrayal by the Board of Education and Superintendent William Coleman after last year’s concessions contract galvanized teachers’ determination. In 2005, teachers had accepted a freeze in wages and step increases and loaned the Board five days of paid time. Then in March of 2006 the administrators and principals received 10-15% raises. But just days before school was to start the Board demanded a 5% pay cut, plus co-pays of up to 20% for health benefits, citing the need to save $88 million dollars from teacher salaries. Coleman ordered the schools to open as scheduled on Sept. 5, using support staff and volunteers. Teachers on the picket lines were asking if all those people had been fingerprinted, as teachers are required to do. But only about 20,000 students out of 130,000 attended, and we heard that not much was done. At my school even the parents going into the building told us they hoped we would win; we deserved it. The next day, Coleman closed the schools and laid off custodians, lunch aides and secretaries. Meanwhile, the Board kept going to court to gain injunctive relief, citing "irreparable harm" to the District as parents enrolled their children in neighboring suburban schools and charter schools. Judge Susan Borman repeatedly ordered them back to the bargaining table, but on Sept. 8 she reluctantly issued a back-to-work order. The Detroit Federation of Teachers was ordered to call a membership meeting to read us the order. As soon as DFT President Janna Garrison began to read the order, the entire membership rose to our feet chanting "No contract! No work!" As we left the meeting it was clear that the overwhelming majority would defy the order. People were angry about the waste, cronyism and mismanagement of the Board—while school buildings crumble and teachers buy toilet paper, the Detroit Board of Education spends 17% for administration while the average school district spends 10.5%. On Sept. 11 it was clear that schools could not re-open. Motorists still honked in support of the pickets, and only 8% of the DFT members crossed. Finally Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick stepped in. After an all-night bargaining session, a tentative contract was reached. We were asked to vote on returning to work under the old contract while the formal ratification takes place. There was vigorous debate—a number of teachers close to retirement and some younger teachers wanted to hold out, but the majority voted to return. The new agreement freezes our wages with a modest increase in the second and third years, lowers our health care co-pay to 10% and adds liability representation, but it doesn’t address working conditions. A group of teachers and supporters, the "Strike to Win" Committee, opposed the new agreement. But teachers I spoke with felt that to hold out longer would not have gained us anything more. Strike to Win argues that "we are the leaders of the new, integrated civil rights movement." Correctly asking "Why should the young people of Detroit receive anything less than those of" the wealthy suburbs, they call for students and teachers to jointly fight for class size cuts. Detroit Public Schools have been losing 10,000 students per year. There is still a widely held belief that charter schools are a better choice. And our strike takes place in the context of General Motors’ restructuring, Delphi’s bankruptcy, and now Ford Motor Company’s announcement of major plant closings and layoffs in the thousands. Northwest Airlines flight attendants were denied the right to strike by a judge, and have taken 21% pay cuts. Rather than ignoring the issues of working conditions, which directly affect the quality of student education, now is the time to start building solidarity with the community and other unions in our region in support of meaningful changes for teachers and our students. —Susan |
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