In this interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now, Moore acknowledges that the teachers were not encouraged to strike by their union leaders. This is so important because union leaders are doing well not just in NYC. It's teachers in the actual schools that need improvements in their working conditions and have to do the actual organizing.
From the transcript of the conversation:
Transcript
This is a
rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
ANICOLE PORTER: Fifty-five of 55 counties. The strike will go on in all of them tomorrow.
STRIKING TEACHERS: Fifty-five strong!
AMY GOODMAN: That’s from Fahrenheit 11/9, Michael Moore, the Oscar-winning filmmaker. It’s his latest film. These teacher strikes, Michael, and teachers in this country, what they’re going through?
MICHAEL MOORE: Well, there’s an uprising going on right now with teachers all over the country. And it’s one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time. These teachers in West Virginia, they’re fighters. Their union, their own union, their leadership tried to discourage them from going out on strike. They wouldn’t listen to them. They went out on strike. They got all 55 counties to go out on strike.
STRIKING TEACHERS: Fifty-five united! Fifty-five united! Fifty-five united!
MICHAEL MOORE: And then, when they finally got the governor to give them what they wanted—
AMY GOODMAN: Governor Justice.
MICHAEL MOORE: Governor Jim Justice—I know. You can’t write this stuff, right? The bus drivers and the lunch ladies and everybody else were also on strike with the teachers. He would only give the raise to the teachers. And they said, “No, you’ve got to give it to the bus drivers and the cooks and the janitors and everybody else.” And he wouldn’t do it, so they wouldn’t go back to school. They stayed out on strike until there was justice for the custodians and the people in the lunchroom and the bus drivers. That kind of solidarity, if we all ever get together and support each other, and not cross each other’s picket lines, that is the scariest thing for these people, because they won’t know what to do. They won’t be able to run their businesses. They won’t be able to run their schools. They won’t be able to do anything.
How difficult is the concept of worker solidarity to understand?
8 comments:
According to the NYSUT hierarchy everything is fine in NY. The number 1 priority should be the right to strike that will put an end to the rest of this bs. That scares the hell out of our so called leaders because everyone will see how unnecessary they are.
If we went on strike, NYC would practically have to shut down. 1.2 million kids are in our schools. It would be the ultimate edge that we have with the Mayor. The fact is most of the teacher strikes have happened WITHOUT the approval of the local unions. We could do the same thing here but most teachers would not be willing to loose 2 days pay for every day they strike.
Solidarity is crucial. When Bloomberg targeted the school bus unions, that was one of the worst things that he did and it was covered extensively by the Chief. All workers need to stand together.
i used to be a big fan of this guy from the "roger and me" days. now he has become just another tds-suffering, america-hating progressive sjw pyscho, with a net worth of $50 mill. you cant make this stuff up.
rofl?
Once Moore gets his long overdue heart attack I can’t wait to see if he goes to Cuba for his bypass
It is the message that is important. We are the union and we have the power if we stick together. Who the messenger is is not that important. The first few comments were encouraging but then it became personal. If we want to use our power, we need solidarity. It is possible. We have seen it in 2018.
Some of you may have seen the article about a Florida teacher getting fired for refusing to enforce school grading policy (free grades). My school has the same, no lower than 45, even if it is a zero on a test, even if a hw isnt done at all, even if a project isnt done at all. This pretty much guarantees a 65 at the end, because they can find a few points for cw and whatever else, since there is such a high floor. What to do? How is this even allowed? If a student get a zero on one test and a 70 on another test, the average should be 35, with my rule, average is 45 plus 70 equals 115, divided by 2 is 58, which creates a report card 65.
James, Michael Moore is SCUM.
I met him at a Rush concert in 2015. The “man of the people” had seats in the first 5 rows and was being escorted to his seats by Rush’s manager Ray Daniels.
Anyway I team up to him I got his ear. I told him what’s going on with teachers. That we need help. He said to call his agency, Creative Artists, so I did. I left a message and then did some research. His agent at CAA? Ari Emanuel. Rahm’s brother. It hit me. Any exposé of education begins in Chicago. Think the fake Tigers fan would dare go against his agent’s brother?
http://southbronxschool.blogspot.com/2016/10/exclusive-michael-moore-exposed-why-he.html
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