Greece Outlaws Teachers Strike

The Greek government has outlawed a teachers strike set to begin on May 17. The government signed a civil mobilization order banning the strike, something that previously had only been used in times of national emergencies, according the WSWS. This is the first time the tactic has been used preemptively before a strike has even started. Workers who violate the order are subject to being fired, arrested and jailed.

Since the imposition of austerity in 2008, the Greek government has relied on such heavy handed tactics to crush any opposition and keep the public in line. Civil mobilization orders, with the support of riot police, were used to violently suppress strikes by subway, rail and tram workers earlier this year. The teachers’ strike ban follows the Greek government’s latest deal with the European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank, attacking teachers’ pay and benefits, and working conditions (including the demand they work an extra two hours per week without pay). 10,000 teachers also face being laid off, according to the WSWS.

So far, no civil mobilization order has been defied by the unions, thus encouraging the government to continue making anti-worker deals with the IMF and European Central Bank. However, thousands of people did demonstrate against the civil mobilization on Monday and teachers voted this week whether to defy the mobilization orders and strike. Preliminary results indicate that the majority of teachers do indeed wish to strike, despite the threat of being fired and sent to prison for 5 years. However, according to the WSWS, the public service trade union federation (ADEDY) will not support the teachers and has undermined attempts by its members to protest the mobilization order.

Looked at in isolation, the strike ban in Greece seems like an autocratic attack on democratic rights, which it is. However, similar events are taking place throughout Europe and elsewhere, indicating a concerted effort by governments to extract concessions and givebacks on behalf of an employing class that wants everyone but themselves to pay for their economic crisis. In Denmark, for example, 70,000 teachers were recently locked out for resisting attacks on their working conditions, while teachers in Mexico and public sector workers in Turkey have been accused of terrorism and imprisoned for similar resistance. In the U.S. teachers strikes are banned in many states, while Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has used the state to take over several school districts and impose dictatorial financial managers with the power to remove unions and fire elected officials.

Teachers Struggles Around the World

Croatia has been cutting its spending in order to close its deficit and improve its credit rating as it prepares to enter the European Union. It has been doing this by slashing public services like education and healthcare. In response, teachers and nurses have been striking against government plans to cut their pay. 70% of Croatia’s education workforce took part in a strike last Thursday, according to the Teacher Solidarity website.

In the German state of Saxony, teachers have begun a series of “warning” strikes for “equitable education funding” (also from the Teacher Solidarity website). More than 20,000 people (75% of Saxony’s education workers) took part in a November 16^th strike, with thousands participating in rallies in Leipzig, Dresden and other cities. One of the strikers’ demands is a shorter work week for older teachers to ease their workload and provide more openings for younger teachers, who make up a minority of Saxony’s teaching staff.

Meanwhile, in Hawaii, teachers have been participating in work-to-rule actions every Thursday in an attempt to roll back concessions imposed on them by their governor two years ago (from Labor Notes). The 2011 contract, which expires in 2013, included cuts to their pay and benefits. Their union negotiated a compromise contract, which included performance pay, evaluation reforms and a two-tiered compensation system for new hires. Not surprisingly, the teachers voted this contract down.

The teachers are arriving just before classes start and leaving immediately at the end of classes, temporarily ending after school tutoring, club supervision, lesson planning and grading papers. In lieu of their normal unpaid labor before and after school, the teachers have waving signs to passersby to promote their cause. They are hoping to bring up wages (starting salaries for Hawaiian teachers are only $31,000) and resist pressure to accept performance pay.

As in many states, Hawaiian teachers are barred from striking until after negotiations have resulted in impasse. Rather than waiting until then, when it would be harder to mobilize teachers, as well as public support, they have begun their protests and outreach early. So far, teachers are saying that students and parents are supporting their actions. The key will be to maintain both high participation rates in their actions, as well as public support, until their demands are met.

Thanks for Your Vote, Now Prepare for Your Punishment

Obama handily won reelection yesterday, promising in his victory speech to work with both parties to slash the deficit (which means large cuts to social programs like Medicare and Social Security and generally reducing living standards for the majority of Americans).

Based on what he didn’t say during the campaign, he is unlikely to do anything different or more on climate change, which means U.S. carbon emissions will hold steady or climb and a continuation (or increase) in super storms, droughts and food insecurity.

Education policy will continue as it has for the past 12 years, with a proliferation of high stakes testing for children and accountability and punishment for teachers. We should expect more districts and states to adopt Value Added evaluation deform, merit pay, blended learning, common core and other giveaways to private education corporations.

The U.S. will continue the slaughter of civilians throughout the world by use of unmanned drones. There will be plenty of U.S. troops killing and being killed on the ground in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The war on immigrants will carry on with mass deportations and incarceration.

And the transfer of wealth from the majority of Americans to the very rich will continue unabated.

Thanks for your vote, suckers. Enjoy the ride!

Teacher Strike Vote in San Francisco

Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons

Members of the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), the union representing San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) teachers, are set to vote this week on whether to authorize a strike, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today. The district is demanding a $30 million cut to teachers’ salaries and benefits over the next two years. UESF wants a 2% pay increase and says the district is sitting on an $80 million surplus.

Less than a week ago, the district declared an impasse in their contract negotiations. The 6,000-member UESF will take the first of two required strike votes this Thursday. Even though there are only three weeks left in the school year, UESF President Dennis Kelly said there is still time to strike. Indeed, a strike at the end of the year could be particularly effective, as it could delay or prevent the issuance of grades and report cards.

Like other districts throughout the state, SFUSD is crying “Uncertainty,” and claiming that any surplus is needed as insurance.

It is true that K-12 education faces $5 billion in cuts if voters reject the governor’s tax initiative in November. It is also true that even if the initiative does pass, SFUSD will still receive the same anemic funding it did during this school year. What is not clear is the veracity of the district’s claim that the failure of the tax initiative would result in $80 million in losses to SFUSD.

Squeezing Blood From Turnips

Even if the district’s claims are accurate, there is no justification for making further cuts since, by their own math, they would need only $80 million to cover the losses caused by the possible failure of the tax initiative (and only $30 million to cover teachers’ salaries, a sum they most definitely have in reserve). Nevertheless, their current contract proposal demands that teachers accept four additional furlough days for each of the next two years, even if the tax initiative does pass. (This would add $7 million to the district’s surplus), while Superintendent Garcia wants an additional five furlough days each year if the tax increase fails in November.

The austerity does not end there. Sup. Garcia wants to eliminate sabbaticals and the extra prep periods currently offered to Advanced Placement teachers, which would save the district another $3.5 million. The district has called for a reduction in teacher training, to save another $3.1 million. And it wants to cut pay and health benefits for full-time substitutes, which would save another $1 million. The district also wants to increase K-3 class sizes from 22 to 25.

Strike Early, Strike Often

San Francisco teachers (indeed most teachers) have made so many concessions over the past few years that there is virtually nothing left to give. Their union has argued that the concessions would save jobs or keep conditions close to the status quo. In reality, it has resulted in a downward spiral in pay, benefits and working conditions for teachers and a concomitant decline in learning conditions for students, with increasing class sizes and declining services, course offerings, librarians, nurses and counselors.

There have been very few significant teacher strikes in the past thirty years. As a result, school districts have grown more aggressive in their demands and tactics. They have become accustomed to the unions making compromises, giving concessions and accepting austerity in exchange for jobs and labor “peace.”

During this same time period, the locals’ parent organizations (AFT and NEA) have increasingly focused their resources and energy on political campaigns, often at the expense of organizing and the promotion of strikes.

The time has come for unions to start taking a harder line. It is time to start thinking of strikes as something potentially positive (since they are the most effective way of achieving improvements in working and living conditions), rather than something to be feared and avoided. While strikes may be risky and bad for students in the short term, they also have the ability to slow down and even reverse trends that are bad for students in the long term.

Strikes also have the ability to beget more strikes by inspiring workers in other districts or even in other industries. During the past few decades of increasing union-management collaboration and declining labor militancy, bosses had no reason to take seriously the threat of a strike. In contrast, when bosses start to see an increase in strikes, they understand that workers are becoming more aggressive and militant and they start to take their demands more seriously. If enough teachers unions go on strike at the same time, they can start to pressure the state, as well as their districts. In fact, a state-wide General Strike of public sector workers may be the most effective tactic for achieving a sufficient increase in taxes necessary to adequately fund schools, health, safety and other public services.

Greek Students Take Over State TV

Obama has called on Greece to get its act together and demanded that Europe clean up her backyard (so he doesn’t have to do this difficult job with his own rotten economy). The problem is that Europe is only concerned with protecting European bankers, which means that Greece will not be forgiven any of its debts or offered any lifeline, which means that Greek workers must bail out their economy through greater and greater austerity.

Greek students and workers, however, do not agree with this conclusion.

(From the Student Activism website)

Last night at least fifty Greek student activists stormed the studios of Greek state television network, commandeering the live evening news. While network officials quickly pulled the plug on the broadcast, the message was not lost on viewers. Students did succeed in getting a public statement aired on the network at midnight.

Endless Recession—IMF Chief Warns Against Spending Cuts

In a fit of coherence, one of the world’s leading capitalists has warned that spending cuts will hurt global economic recovery. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in the Financial Times on Tuesday that spending cuts were not the appropriate means to forestall another recession, Democracy Now reported yesterday.

But will the ruling elite listen and do they care?

Austerity on the masses means the wealthy can continue to enjoy their low tax rates, subsidies for their businesses and continued prosperity. Their businesses, for the most part, seem to be doing just fine, even without hiring back all the unemployed workers. In fact they've doing better than ever, with record profits and record productivity by the down-sized, sped-up and overworked employees who still have their jobs.

Of course this will perpetuate or worsen the recession. But if they can keep it up long enough, at least in the U.S., it will likely make Obama unelectable.