Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Minneapolis Teachers Strike for Smaller Class Sizes, More Counselors and Higher Wages

Minneapolis teachers went out on strike this morning. They are demanding increased wages, smaller class sizes, mental health support for students, and support and retention of BIPOC teachers.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

March 8, 2022
Facebook Twitter Share
ELIZABETH FLORES, STAR TRIBUNE

In the birthplace of the George Floyd uprising and on International Women’s Day, Minneapolis teachers and support staff have gone out on strike. At 7:00 this morning, the public schools in Minnesota’s biggest district were surrounded by teachers holding signs and chanting: “Who’s got the power? Union power!” Their signs read “smaller class sizes,” “living wage now!” and “WTF: where is the funding?” 

This is the first time Minneapolis teachers have been on strike since 1970. The strike vote passed with over 97% approval; over 93% of educators participated in the vote. Teachers in St. Paul, Minnesota were also set to go on strike, but reached a tentative agreement late last night. 

Among the Minneapolis educators’ demands are increased wages, smaller class sizes, mental health support for students, and support and retention of BIPOC teachers. 

A central demand is increased wages for Educational Support Professionals (ESPs) — who are mostly people of color. The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers includes classroom teachers as well as support professionals in the same union, and the demands of ESPs are central. Their duties range from one-on-one support to students, to providing food, custodial, transportation, health, and interpretation services. The current starting wage for ESPs is a meager $24,000. At 40 hours a week, that’s $11.54 an hour while inflation is at 7.5 percent. Currently, workers on strike are demanding a $35,000 salary for these essential support staff. 

The district claims there simply isn’t money for all these demands, but teachers have pointed to the $9.3 billion surplus in Minnesota. This budget surplus is a significant increase from last year’s $1.6 billion surplus — in fact, the state has run budget surpluses for the last nine years. 

The money is there. And teachers should go on strike until they get what they need for themselves and their students. After all, teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions. 

Drew Valle, a Black special education teacher in Minneapolis explained, “We want fair pay for our education support professionals who are often BIPOC and are unfairly compensated for the real work they do. I am a Black teacher and I want to see the working conditions of my peers improve.”As one ESP with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers told the Lincoln Journal Star: “We are here to create systemic change and refuse to accept anything less.”

Facebook Twitter Share

Tatiana Cozzarelli

Tatiana is a former middle school teacher and current Urban Education PhD student at CUNY.

United States

A Pause in Genocide Is Not Enough: Jewish Voice for Peace Shuts Down the Manhattan Bridge

Amid a pause in Israel’s offensive on Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace is showing that the movement for Palestine will continue. Civil disobedience must lead to broad protests which bring all sectors of the movement together.

Samuel Karlin

November 26, 2023
Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed wearing Keffiyes. They were shot in Burlington, Vermont, USA.

The Three Palestinians Shot in Burlington Are Victims of Rising Islamophobia

Three Palestinian men were shot in Burlington Vermont while walking down the street. The campaign against Palestine has dehumanized all Palestinians and left them more vulnerable to these types of attacks.

Enid Brain

November 26, 2023
A rally with people holding signs and a banner reading "Full funding"

Student Workers Stand Up for CUNY and Palestine

Attacks on CUNY and CUNY activists are an attack on all working people and students. Workers and students united can fight back.  

Olivia Wood

November 25, 2023

Protestors Disrupt Thanksgiving Parade With One Message: End Genocide, Don’t Celebrate It

This Thanksgiving, pro-Palestine protestors and Indigenous people refuse to allow the whitewashing of past and ongoing genocide.

Emma Lee

November 23, 2023

MOST RECENT

Protesters in NYC for Palestinian liberation.

Uniting Workers for Palestine Is a Fight for the Future of Labor

The struggle for Palestine shows the potential for the rank and file to push unions to break with imperialism and to build a new, combative, and internationalist unionism.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

November 27, 2023
Haverford College student Kinnan Abdalhamid and Brown University students Tahseen Ahmed and Hisham Awartani, Palestinian college students who were shot in Burlington, Vermont.

Haverford Faculty for Justice in Palestine Releases Statement Supporting Pro-Palestinian Students

Haverford College Faculty for Justice in Palestine have published a statement following the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont.

Women in Gaza: “Sleep Is a Luxury We Cannot Afford”

November 25 is the International Day Against Gender-Based Violence and organizations and activists from diverse countries around the world are calling to mobilize for  a Global Feminist Action for Palestine,

Andrea D'Atri

November 25, 2023

Palestinian Self-Determination and the Fight for Socialism

In this article, we discuss four different strategies for fighting for Palestinian Self-Determination and why we must fight for a workers' and socialist Palestine.

Josefina L. Martínez

November 24, 2023