{"id":22658,"date":"2019-02-17T01:12:17","date_gmt":"2019-02-17T09:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=22658"},"modified":"2019-02-17T01:12:17","modified_gmt":"2019-02-17T09:12:17","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-how-the-world-loves-a-fence-or-cage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-how-the-world-loves-a-fence-or-cage\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: How the World Loves a Fence (or cage)*"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fight Back!<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Pyrrhic Victory: Denver Teachers Reach Tentative Deal To End Strike (nothing on class size, bonuses remain, etc. etc.)<\/h1>\n

After a long night of bargaining, teachers in Denver who were on strike over wages and bonuses have reached a tentative agreement with school district officials to end their walkout. The strike began Monday, after 15 months of negotiations ended without a deal.<\/p>\n

The teachers are expected to be back in most classes today.<\/p>\n

The agreement<\/a> came after more than half<\/a> of the district’s approximately 4,700 teachers failed to report to classrooms on Wednesday. Administrators and substitute teachers kept most schools open, but some 5,000 preschoolers saw classes cancelled…<\/p>\n

To take effect, the tentative agreement must be ratified by a majority of members of the teachers association. (but the teachers were ordered back to work before ratification)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

www.facebook.com\/fox31denver\/videos\/2186701191391350\/?t=8<\/a><\/p>\n

The week’s strike is the first for Denver teachers in 25 years. It follows a slew of walkouts in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, North Carolina last spring and a January strike in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

With 91,000 students, Denver is home to Colorado’s largest school district<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 www.npr.org\/2019\/02\/14\/694662525\/denver-teachers-reach-tentative-deal-to-end-walkout<\/a><\/p>\n

Below, Rouger Wayne Ross in Colombia leading the Dance of the Dialectic.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0Lessons learned from the Wright State strike: professors will fight against an imposed contract, for their right to bargain over health care — and for basic respect.<\/span><\/p>\n

Standing Up for What\u2019s Right\u2019<\/h1>\n

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Professors were back to work Monday, trying to put things back in order.<\/p>\n

Was sacrificing three weeks\u2019 pay, braving picket lines in the polar vortex and now dealing with classroom chaos worth it?<\/p>\n

Yes, striking professors and their supporters say. To many, it comes down to a few key issues — namely retaining the right to bargain over health care in the future, even if this deal moves professors onto a single, universitywide employee benefits plan that they initially resisted. At first, the university wanted to remove the right to future bargaining.<\/p>\n

Other key wins: keeping workload agreements, reasonable timelines for continuing contracts for professors off the tenure track, clear merit raise<\/strong><\/em> standards and summer teaching rights — all of which the university sought to scrap. There are additional limits on retrenchment and furloughs in the deal.<\/p>\n

The set of two, two-year agreements also includes 2.5 percent<\/strong> raises for the last two years.<\/p>\n

Summer course pay was cut 15 to 20 percent, however<\/strong>. The battle over faculty contracts at Wright State, after all, took place at an institution that all sides agreed had not been adequately funded by the state.<\/p>\n

Perhaps more than anything, the strike was about respect, including in future negotiations.\u00a0 www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2019\/02\/13\/what-lessons-can-be-learned-wright-state-faculty-strike?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=10bf830632-<\/a><\/p>\n

Reminder of a real strike:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n