A compelling first-hand chronicle of a modern-day triumph of labor
organization in West Virginia.
On February 22, 2018, nearly 20,000 West Virginia teachers, bus drivers,
and service personnel walked out on their jobs in solidarity. After
thirteen hard days, the workers, largely women, won higher pay and
better benefits. Beyond that, the strike sparked a revolution in
education across the United States.
What compelled West Virginia's education workers to strike? How did they
organize? What were teachers and allies doing during the walk-out? And
how was this strike connected to West Virginia's long history of labor
organization and unions?
55 Strong: Inside the West Virginia Teachers' Strike answers these
questions and offers unique, on-the-ground insights into this historic
labor stoppage. The book includes essays by teachers from around the
state, images from the picket lines, organizing documents, and material
on the history of the labor movement in West Virginia. Edited by Jessica
Salfia, a West Virginia public school teacher, Emily Hilliard, a West
Virginia-based folklorist, and Elizabeth Catte, author of What You Are
Getting Wrong About Appalachia and Pure America.
A necessary and urgent rallying cry for anyone interested in the future
of organized labor in America.
