After AFT-affiliated unions at the University of Michigan and the Detroit public school system pushed through sellout contracts last week, educators and students met to review the political lessons and discuss the fight for rank-and-file committees.
Monday’s meeting marked a step forward in the struggle to defeat the conspiracy of the union leadership and the Democratic Party to impose sellout contracts, pledging to establish rank-and-file control and unite the struggles of U-M grad student instructors and Detroit teachers.
As devastating cuts to public schools are taking place across the US, two Rank-and-File Committees comprised of educators, school workers and parents met to discuss how to expand their work.
The May 20 meeting was called in the aftermath of the tragic death of the six-year-old Detroit student and the outbreak of a cluster of "flu-like illnesses" at his elementary school.