Teachers stage mass picket, demand smaller class sizes
By JAMES PARIS
New Pioneer News Service
DETROIT, September 3 -- Chanting "No contract, no work," over 5,000 teachers
and supporting unionists staged a mass picket around the Schools Center
Building this morning.
The rally capped off the first week of the strike, which has been solid
since members voted by a two-to-one margin to reject a contract extension.
Since Aug. 30, the 7,100 members of the Detroit Federation of Teachers
have walked picket lines and kept schools licked down, in defiance of the
corporate School Board, the city and state governments.
The Detroit teachers' strike is the first open challenge to the state's
brutal, anti-labor PA-112, which outlaws strike and other work actions by
educators.
The state can levy fines on each individual teacher equivalent to
one-day's pay for every day on the picket line.
Many parents and workers across the city are supporting the strike, at
times walking picket lines with teachers to show support.
Solidarity among teachers on the picket line has been strong. On the
first day, less than 150 teachers crossed the picket lines.
Since then, most of these teachers have walked out of the schools and
walked the lines.
The main issues for teachers include smaller class sizes, restoration
of sick days, elimination of a proposed merit pay structure and withdrawal
of a proposed plan to allow teachers to be "re-allocated" (read: fired) at
will.
Teachers have been at odds with the corporate School Board, which was
installed by Mayor Dennis Archer after the state legislature approved the
abolition of the previously elected board.
The corporate School Board is headed by "Chief Executive Officer" David
Adamany, former president of Wayne State University and a notorious union
buster.
Adamany and the School Board's goal is to smash the DFT, or, at the
very least, break down its ability to challenge their policies.
All of this is part of Mayor Archer's "Detroit Renaissance" -- a
"renaissance" of superexploitation without the interference of unions.
The new casinos and sports stadiums have meant increased attacks on
workers across the city. As Detroit teachers walk the picket lines, poor
workers are being forced from their homes by the city through higher
property taxes.
The higher taxes are meant to offset the tax abatements for all the new
"improvements."
The Marxist Workers' Group has been active on the picket lines and in
the communities organizing labor-community support for the Detroit teachers.
We are working closely with members of the DFT to build broad support
for the teachers, while openly explaining our views and positions.
The upcoming "LaborFest '99" Labor Day march and rally in Detroit will
be an important event for building a broader working-class movement to
defend the Detroit teachers and public education.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers needs your support! The DFT is
facing an uphill battle, fighting the School Board, the city and state
governments. Teachers can only receive a total of $800 in strike pay
throughout the length of the action. They need your solidarity and support.
Go to your unions and organizations and ask them to pass resolutions in
support of the DFT, as well as contribute to the DFT's strike fund.
Support messages, resolutions of solidarity and financial contributions
can be sent to: Detroit Federation of Teachers, 7451 Third St., Detroit, MI
48202. Phone: (313) 875-3500; Fax: (313) 875-3512; E-Mail:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Please send copies of messages and resolutions to: New
Pioneer News Service, P.O. Box 19221, Detroit, MI 48219. Phone: (313)
301-4428; E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Web: http://www.npns.org/.
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