Union Organizers Out In Full Force For Teacher Walkout/Rally In Raleigh

RALEIGH – Thousands of teachers and their supporters flooded the streets of Raleigh Wednesday morning as they marched to the Old State Capitol building chanting pro-union slogans and demanding ‘livable wages.’ More than half of North Carolina’s teachers make more than the average salary of $51,324.

Many of those teachers abandoned their march route to stop and have beers at a local beer shop…before noon. So dedicated to the cause of education, these teachers put some of their money from four consecutive salary increases in the last four years toward some cold brews. One of the red-wearing beer drinkers was actually a union organizer, passing out literature to marchers that eagerly absorbed the material.

“If they’re scared of ‘Union Thugs’, let’s become a union!” the man bellowed as he passed out a flyer for the Industrial Workers of the World in between sips of an IPA. Before noon.

The intro to the flyer reads:

Who are we?We are the Industrial Workers of the World – the “one big union” founded in 1905, a democratic union led by its membership, not paid staff. The IWW has participated in labor struggles around the world, establishing a proud tradition of organizing based on the solidarity unionism model. This model is focused on building the direct strength of workers on the job without regard to official recognition. This makes it an especially powerful model in a right to work state like North Carolina. What you are doing here today is an example of solidarity unionism in action, and it is the kind of organizing that produced wins in West Virginia and Arizaone, as rank-and-file teachers collectively determined the conditions and the goals of their fight, pushing back against the easily and insubstantial compromises advocated by their leadership. You have the POWER and the IWW supports you today, in the coming days, and in the fight ahead.

WHY do we think educators and public-sector employees will benefit from the OT101?

Because the OT101 helps each of us build the skills to do everything that organizing involved – to have on-on-one conversations, to form a committee, to build solidarity with co-workers, to anticipate retaliation, to escalate, to engage in direct action and to win victories. In other words, to build POWER. Ordinary teachers, staff, students, and parents can do this, and you do not need permission from your legislators, bosses, or association/union leadership. NOW is the time to build a strategy and to empower each other to make real change happen that will not only improve conditions for you as workers (yes, teachers are workers! You deserve respect, benefits, and real, livable compensation)-  but will also improve schools, communities, and the lives of children and their families.”

The flyer goes on to advertise an IWW “organizer training” being planned for July 14-15, and ends with the Marxist slogan, “An injury to one is an injury to all!”

The teacher pay issue is what it is – teachers may very well deserve the large pay raises that Republicans have been giving them for years. But to pretend that this protest and march was much more than a Leftist/Union cause celebre designed to advance the Left’s political agenda and smear Republicans during campaign season is to ignore the real animating forces behind it all.

This activity is being organized, promoted, and exploited to advance Radical Leftist ideologies no different than the collectivist Marxist ideas that ruled the soviets.

Teachers – you’re being used.