Teachers Striking in the Town Where Mother Jones Is Buried

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Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, marching for workers' rights in Trinidad, Colorado, circa 1910.

Our namesake, a mother, Mary Harris Jones.Zinn Education Project

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Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, after whom Mother Jones is named, was a prominent labor leader in the late 1800s and early 1900s. When her long life came to an end, Mother Jones—”grandmother of all agitators”—was buried in Mt. Olive, Illinois, alongside miners whose rights she fought for. This week, teachers in Mt. Olive are striking, too. Tuesday marked the second day of their strike for higher salaries and better benefits.

The Mt. Olive board of education offered the 39 teachers in the district a 2 percent increase in their salaries this year, as well as an increase of 2 percent per year during their last four years to help them prepare for retirement, according to the local Fox news station, KTVI. The teachers want a 4.5 percent pay hike now, and a 6 percent annual increase for their final four years. Teachers told KTVI that they agreed to forgo raises in their last contract in exchange for larger salary increases this time around, but the town didn’t keep its promise. “We feel that when you make a promise you need to keep it,” Marcia Schulte, a kindergarten teacher who runs the teachers’ union, told KTVI Monday. “That’s what we need to teach the kids.” She added that last year, the administration and support staff got a six percent raise, while teachers haven’t gotten a salary bump since 2009.

The teachers are also upset that the board wants to subject new hires to a different pay raise scale that would make their salaries increase more slowly. The teachers’ last contract expired in August, and ongoing union contract negotiations since then have left issues unresolved.

The school district superintendant Patrick Murphy told KTVI that reduced aid from the state and lower school enrollment means that the district has to shrink its budget.

All 39 teachers went on strike Monday morning. On Monday night, union members and administrators negotiated until 1:00 a.m., but no progress was made.

The teachers will not meet again with the administration until next week, and they’ll likely continue striking until then. Meanwhile, they have Mother Jones‘ words to keep them company. “Pray for the dead,” she was known to say, “and fight like hell for the living.”