- Jonathan Knapp
- Rally at Olympia right now.
I just got off the phone with Seattle teacher’s union vice president Jonathan Knapp, who said that thousands* have gathered at the rally to protest state budget cuts to education and healthcare in Olympia today.
“The federal rotunda is pretty much full,” Knapp said. “We want to make sure Washington gets the message. Every union you can think of is here—teachers, machinists, carpenters. People are still streaming in. It’s loud and raucous, but we are making a powerful statement.”
Knapp said that the coalition from Seattle reached Olympia around 11 a.m. and plan to be there until 2 p.m. “They are cutting K-12 and higher education, it’s unacceptable,” he said. “Working people didn’t cause this financial crisis. We need to stand up for education and healthcare. We shouldn’t be laying off teachers and healthcare workers.”
Although the Seattle Public Schools has not yet decided how many teachers are going to be laid off, preparations have already started to clear the way for sending potential layoff notices. Every year, some teachers receive pink slips and then they are brought back when jobs open up again, Knapp said. “Each of the last two years, reduction in force has been covered by attrition when people retire or leave the district,” he said. At lest 200 teachers leave the district every year on their own accord, Knapp said, out of a total 0f 5,000 union members.
SPS expects teacher layoffs to be minimal this year. Knapp expects the district will go ahead and plan their own budget because it looks unlikely that Olympia will have a budget before June. The district needs to send layoff notices to certificated teachers by May 15 per state law.
*Knapp estimated the number to be 8,000, but could not confirm it.
Hey, Riya, did you see any proud, card-carrying, dues-paying members of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild?
So SPOG is there too, right?
Working people who support Eyman initiatives can take some credit for the financial crisis.
everyone who should be here is here.
The 2/3 of WA that voted against taxes doesn’t protest for a living.
@3, yes, there was a-lot of support for Eyeman’s initiatives from “working” people, but I doubt the support came from Union workers.
@6 do you mean union workers or the parasites on the state nipple, aka SEIU etc.? Because if you’re talking the later, 67% of WA voters have already spoken where it matters, at the election.
Enjoy your day out. Nice day to skip work. By Monday this will be forgotten and WA state won’t be Somalia.
@6, good. Then they should also take this energy to the districts where people do vote against their own interests by supporting the likes of Eyman. Cuts are happening now because the Legislature is hammstrung by the November election.
What’s happening in Oly, with this rally, is great! But that is only one way to make one’s voice heard. Community organizing and voting are others.
they need to get violent. that will show the conservatives.
When will the stranger Unionize though?
Sall, you have a good point. What to do about the red districts is something that should be brought up with union organisers and liberal activists. I am often frustrated, when reading anything political, at just how ineffective the most logical, rational arguments against the shout machines.
Of course, as indicated by #7, the other side is completely unwilling to listen or engage in civil discourse (yet heaven forbid a liberal stray from that even one millimeter).
@9, they do not need to get violent! However, if the police get violent, they need to hit back. I am actually amazed that none of the protests have gotten violent. Scott Walker sure seemed a little threatening there. I chalk it up for good attention by the left in looking for potential agitators, and just enough intelligence by the right to not overplay their hands that much.
the funny thing is this won’t produce anything. Unions were at max power in Wisconsin and still lost. Washington is alot more conservatve then you think. Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, and Starbucks are open minded but they will pull the economic plug on this state in a heartbeat and this state will be another detroit except with a far dumber liberal population
actually Tingley they do. the powers that be dont respect you. they use you for votes like a cheap condom being used on a pretty blond conservative christian slutty college girl who the guys keep telling she is prescious and special and smart. but in reality is just a cum dumpster
durr, they won’t gain any credibility by instigating the violence. I say that as someone who agrees that they system does not respect working people, and needs to be taken down. But it is the wealthy elites, not the politicians working for them, who should be assaulted. Maybe we should have protests in front of the lobbying offices of those who have backed the politicians who promote these assaults on the least among us in the name of balancing the budget, while continuing to allow unjustifiable tax breaks.