After an all-night bargaining session, the Denver teachers’ union and the district reached a tentative agreement at 6 AM this morning to end their strike.

Most Denver teachers I’ve spoken with see the contract as a victory and are happy to be returning to school. Before this contract struggle, the district was offering zero base-pay salary increases; because of the push towards a strike, and now the strike itself, all educators will be getting between a 7 and 11 percent pay raise.

As is often the case, the biggest win of this work stoppage was workers’ increased sense of power and political consciousness. As Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) vice president Christina Medina told me this morning, “This week, a lot of us were able to make our voices heard — and to really see how there’s power in numbers, in workplace action, and in unity.”