Oakland teachers form rank-and-file strike committee

Oakland teachers form rank-and-file strike committee as union keeps educators in the dark

By Ben McGrath at the World Socialist Website

27 February 2019

The strike of Oakland, California teachers continued on Tuesday as teachers went to their picket lines in the morning before holding a two-mile march from Verdese Carter Park to Roots International Academy in East Oakland.

To carry the struggle forward, Oakland teachers have announced the formation of a rank-and-file strike committee, independent of the pro-corporate unions and in opposition to all budget cuts, teacher layoffs, and school closures.

A statement announcing the formation of the strike committee declares, “Whatever agreement the unions reach behind closed doors will not address the issues for which we are striking. The OEA (Oakland Education Association) has already declared that it accepts the district’s insistence that any gain for teachers will be offset by cuts to school programs and school closures. It has refused to make the fight against budget cuts part of the strike.”

Oakland teachers, the statement continues, must oppose such a sellout and fight back. The rank-and-file strike committee “will be completely independent of the unions” and will “take up the fight for critical issues long abandoned by the unions, including opposing all budget cuts, teacher layoffs and school closings.” It will also be independent of both big-business parties and fight for the demands that teachers and their students need, including full funding for public education, not what school authorities and the state Democrats claim they can afford.

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