W. Va. teachers’ strike ends with a promise to raise pay

A teachers’ strike that ground public schools to a halt across West Virginia is set to end today, a week after it began, Gov. James C. Justice and teachers’ union representatives said Tuesday night.

Justice, a Republican, said that he had promised the state’s teachers a 5 percent raise, and that he would create a task force to address the problem of rising insurance costs for public employees, a key issue in the strike.

“We need our kids back in school, and we need our teachers back in school,” said Justice, who said he was “hopeful” that state lawmakers would go along with his proposals, which would also give all state employees a 3 percent raise.

The strike left more than 250,000 children out of school in the state’s 55 counties. Teachers crying “We’ll

louder,” and carrying signs with slogans like “WV teachers deserve better” flooded the state Capitol, their voices echoing through the halls. The teachers frequently cited data showing that they are among the lowest-paid public educators in the United States.

The deal, should it come to fruition, marks a significant victory for organized labor as the Supreme Court weighs a case that could sharply curb unions’ power across the coun

And it comes in a state with a history of mining unions — though their clout has faded with the coal industry.

“Our teachers are saying to us, we know that we did this,” said Christine Campbell of the West Virginia arm of the American Federation of Teachers.

Justice said the raises would be paid for by revising revenue estimates upward.

But it is not yet clear exactly what the state will do to lower the rising costs of insurance, which, more than salary, was the tipping point for many of the teachers who decided to join the strike.