“This Is a Struggle of Regular Working People”
Kentucky schools are shut down today amid a growing grassroots worker rebellion. We spoke with one rank and filer who helped organize the action.
Public employees rallying at the Kentucky state capitol on March 30, 2018. BeckerforKY / Twitter
Schools across Kentucky were shut last Friday and will be closed again on Monday as teachers and public employees organized sickouts against cuts to their pensions. Jacobin’s Eric Blanc spoke with Nema Brewer, a school district employee and organizer in Fayette County, about the emergence and development of this powerful movement.
Eric Blanc
Can you tell our readers about the roots of the current struggle?
Nema Brewer
Kentucky currently has a Republican supermajority. Since 2016, they’ve controlled the House, the Senate, and the Governor’s office — and they’ve made it incredibly difficult for working people in the state. They came in and passed right to work, they got rid of the prevailing wage, and they approved charter schools. Those were the three things that really started the discontent.
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