OT - Looks like our Teacher strike is over
If any of you have seen on national news, the entire state of WV has been out of school for 9 days due to a teacher strike.
A deal has finally been reached and they will return tomorrow or Thursday. This doesn't just help teachers, but all state employees, like me, are getting a raise. This is huge because other than a $504 raise we received 2 years ago, this is the first state wide raise in 10 or 11 years. At the same time, insurance costs have skyrocketed.
I'm so proud of our teachers for standing up to the government....every last county in this state stood united and never backed down. Even when they had a verbal promise from the Governor, last week, they didn't go back until it had went thru the legislative process. These teachers made up lunch kits for kids from underprivileged homes that rely on getting fed at school, they went online and put out assignments, sent out packets before the walk out.
They have been sending out the names of the state gov't that refused to pass the bill and they took a lot of name calling and criticism. Making every national news program also put a lot of pressure on our gov't to get it fixed. We are ranked 48th in teachers salaries.
For those of you in Oklahoma that may face the same thing, stand united with your teachers, they deserve it.
#55strong
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Yay!!
Great news! I just got a breaking news update! I love love love that all state workers are getting the raise! I also love the the teachers and other strikers were making sure that the students had food *angel*
Awesome!
Do y'all not have unions? Glad the teachers were able to accomplish something and not just for themselves! Thankfully my union put something in our contract a couple of years ago that our insurance premiums can not increase more than our raise % because it was getting ridiculous. We'd get a 3% raise but then our insurance would go up so much that we'd be making LESS money. Ridiculous.
The teachers have a union
The teachers have a union. State workers have the option to join a union, depending on their classification.
The insurance problem you spoke of was a big part of the strike...well it was a walk out. At first the teachers were to get a 2-1-1 raise over 3 years, but the insurance premiums were going to up 3 or 4 percent. Then they wanted to base premiums off of all household income, including spouses or anyone over 18 that worked. There is a committe to work on the insurance side of the arguement.
I'm a widow and I have an alternate insurance so that part wasn't affecting me.
That is awesome.
That is awesome. Unfortunately the way things are with insurance must of us are bringing home less and the insurance not only costs more it is not as good.
At my last job when I divorced it cost me 50.00 a month for my son's insurance, it went up the next year to 300.00 just for him and my portion for me another 125.00. My whopping 3% raise which was the most you could get didn't come close to making up for that.
Too bad we don't all have
Too bad we don't all have unions. My premiums increased more than my raise pretty much every year. That's normal for many workers not in teaching.
A few years back, my friend, who is a teacher, was so indignant about her health premium costs. She said it would suck up nearly all of her raise and I felt bad for her...until she dropped the bomb: it was the first year teachers were ever required to contribute to their premiums!!! When I told her I have always contributed to my health insurance, she was unmoved. She has no idea how it is outside her profession.
Our state's teachers' union does quite well. Unfortunately, the teachers don't know any other industry to realize they do quite well.
I personally think that
I personally think that teachers have one of the hardest jobs in this country. They are under paid.
Yawn
I'm so tired of people getting jealous of how "sweet" teachers have it instead of demanding everyone should have the right to unionize and improve wages/benefits in this country.
Affordable benefits. Having
Affordable benefits. Having to pay huge amounts for crappy insurance with huge deductibles is a hardship. It is sad that I had better insurance options 5 years ago than now.
Yay, Bearcub! I've been
Yay, Bearcub! I've been watching this strike unfold in the media, and was glad to see that the teachers were able to get coverage of all they were doing to care for their students while they were out of the classroom . I didn't see the government stepping up to ensure those kids had food.*beee*
Health care costs in this country are simply unsustainable, but until our elected officials are required to have the same policies as the rest of us, I doubt things will improve...Unless the WV teachers can rally the rest of our country's workers to unite in protest?