Today in Labor History—December 20

December 20, 1790 - The first American cotton mill began operation in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The mill, owned by Samuel Slater, employed children aged 4-10. (From workday Minnesota and the Daily Bleed)

December 20, 1905 -- An 11-day General Strike began in Russia to bring down the Czar.

December 20, 1957 -- Brittish working class singer/songwriter Billy Bragg was born on this date. Bragg was a strong supporter of the 1984 miners strike and has been an outspoken critic of fascim, racism, sexism and homophobia.

 

The Ghost of Tom Joad, by Woody Guthrie

December 20, 1968—John Steinbeck died on this date. He was most famous for novels written from the perspective of working men and women, the poor and downtrodden, including East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, Tortilla Flats and Cannery Row. (From the Daily Bleed)

Working Class Hostility Toward Jersey & Philly Teachers

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey has been trying cut teacher salaries and benefits (like many other governors) in order to balance his bloated budget. He has been filmed telling teachers to quit if they don’t like their pay. He has derided teachers for getting employer-paid health benefits, and called teachers unions disgraceful.

Which Side Are You On?

There are currently 19 school districts in South Jersey, and another 13 in the suburbs north and west of Philadelphia, that are in contract disputes. While teachers fight to hold onto their salaries and benefits, parents and taxpayers are getting riled into a lynch mob mentality against teachers. While it is understandable and justifiable that people are angry about their own financial insecurity and the gutting of their schools, it is misdirected anger when it is placed on teachers, rather than the rich and corporations who refuse to pay their fair share of taxes, or at the banks and financial institutions that created the recession and then received trillions of taxpayer dollars to be bailed out.

Teachers, like all workers, should be compensated fairly and sufficiently to live comfortably in the communities in which they teach. Everyone should get health care and be able to afford food and housing. Anyone who does not have this level of material security is getting screwed, by the bosses and the rich, not by other workers. Rather than attacking fellow workers and denying their right to a decent and secure life, we need to remember that all workers have far more in common with each other than we do with the bosses.

Don’t scab for the bosses,
Don’t listen to their lies.
Us poor folks haven’t got a chance,
Unless we organize.

Which Side Are You On (Listen to Billy Bragg)

Cut Teacher Salaries and Lose The Best Teachers

Interestingly, even executive teacher-basher Barack Obama believes teachers should be paid a decent wage. In the Audacity of Hope he wrote that, “there is no reason why an experienced, highly-qualified teacher shouldn’t earn $100,000,” although he did tie this to a weakening of tenure protections. While Obama would like to give administrators greater authority to fire teachers and weaken teacher authority and independence, he does at least recognize the relationship between adequate remuneration and the ability to recruit and retain the best quality teachers.

Despite the president’s good intentions, teacher pay generally lags well behind comparable jobs, which is one reason why it is so hard to recruit good teachers. The Economic Policy Institute wrote that teacher pay lagged 15% behind similar jobs, and that the gap has been widening. When I left the lab to become a science teacher, I took a 15% pay cut.