2018–2019 education workers' strikes in the United States

The 2018–2019 education workers' strikes in the United States began on February 22, 2018, after local activists compelled the West Virginia state leadership of the West Virginia branches of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association into holding a strike vote. The strike—which ended when teachers returned to their classrooms on March 7—inspired similar, statewide strikes in Oklahoma and Arizona. It also inspired smaller-scale protests by school staff in Kentucky, North Carolina, Colorado, and led to a school bus driver strike in Georgia. Additionally, around this time, adjunct professors at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia protested over pay.

DateFebruary 23, 2018 – June 7, 2019

Location

United States

Caused by

• Budget cuts
• Low salaries
• Decreased employee benefits
• Low per pupil spending
• Right-to-work law
• School choice
• School vouchers

Methods

• Civil resistance
• Demonstrations
• Strike actions
• Internet activism
• Silent protests
• Sit-ins
• Social media activism
• Walkouts

Quick facts Date, Location ...

2018–2019 teachers' strikes in the United States
Teachers striking in Arizona
Date	February 23, 2018 – June 7, 2019
Location	United States
Caused by	Budget cuts Low salaries Decreased employee benefits Low per pupil spending Right-to-work law School choice School vouchers
Methods	Civil resistance Demonstrations Strike actions Internet activism Silent protests Sit-ins Social media activism Walkouts
Resulted in	Arizona: 20 percent pay raise[1] Colorado: 2 percent pay raise; increased school spending[2] Los Angeles 6 percent pay raise, class size reduction, increased support staff[3][4] Oklahoma: Increased school funding, teacher raises by $6,000, support staff raises by $1,250[5][6] Virginia: 5 percent pay raise West Virginia: 5 percent pay raise[7]
Lead figures
AFL–CIO American Federation of Teachers Democratic Socialists of America Industrial Workers of the World National Education Association State education associations State and city governments: Arizona Colorado Los Angeles, CA North Carolina Oklahoma Virginia West Virginia
Number
~20,000 in Arizona ~6,000 in Colorado ~30,000 in Los Angeles ~30,000 in North Carolina ~10,000 in Oklahoma ~4,000 in Virginia ~10,000 in West Virginia

Close

The strikes continued in the fall of 2018 when there was a collective bargaining shortcoming between the United Teachers Los Angeles union and the Los Angeles Unified School District in September 2018, prompting a strike that began in January 2019. This also resulted in a teachers' walkout in Virginia, a long-time right-to-work state, as well as in Denver and Oakland, California.^[8][9] The national wave of strikes has been referred to as Red for Ed or #RedForEd, with striking workers often wearing red shirts to show solidarity.^[10][11] Reasons given for the choice of the color red range from the fact that many of the initial strikes were in red (Republican-controlled) states to the idea that public school budgets are in the red.^[10]

Motivations for the strikes included desire for increased wages for teachers and support staff, larger school budgets, smaller classrooms, and other issues. The strikes varied in their levels of success, with the West Virginia strike considered mostly successful, where Oklahoman teachers received relatively few concessions.