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Unionization was one of our Top Trends for 2022, and as we have been reporting each week, across the work spectrum, it’s “on-trend.”
Teachers from Minneapolis Public Schools and other workers in the system announced last Tuesday that they will strike over wages and working conditions. The Wall Street Journal reported that one of the demands is raising the starting salaries for support staff from $24,000 to $35,000 a year.
“We’re here to say this isn’t working,” Greta Callahan, the president of the union’s teachers chapter, told the paper. “You have been hemorrhaging families, you’ve been hemorrhaging educators. Our students don’t have stability. They deserve a high-quality education.”
More than 4,500 employees are calling for more mental health support, smaller class sizes, and living wages. Those striking have called on the state to tap into its $9.3 billion of surplus funds to meet the demands.
The Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) said it offered teachers “significant” proposals to get students back into the classroom. (Schools have been closed since last Tuesday and will be closed through the strike.)
TRENDPOST: The shortage of workers and the desire of employed workers to organize and go on strike share a common root cause: people are far less inclined to perform menial, unfulfilling jobs for meager pay. (See: “STARBUCKS STORE TO UNIONIZE, A TOP TREND FOR 2022?” “ACTIVISION STUDIO GROUP WILL FORM A UNION, SOLIDIFYING TRENDS JOURNAL FORECAST,” “POLITICO JOURNALISTS FORM UNION. A TREND OF THE TIMES” and “REI: UNIONIZATION TREND EXPANDS AS FORECAST.”)
Like in other instances that we have reported on, the MPS has been accused of spreading misinformation, releasing details about the negotiations to the press, and “demonizing educators to make them look greedy,” BringMeTheNews.com reported.
The school district claims that it has a budget gap of $97.2 million for the 2022-23 fiscal year due to several reasons, including small enrollment numbers.
Minnesota Public Radio reported that district leaders have warned that the budget shortfall could mean layoffs. Ed Graff, the Minneapolis superintendent, said the budget gap means the district will have to make a reduction in staff.
“It will mean consideration of consolidating programs and perhaps schools. These are things that we cannot avoid based on what we’re seeing with our revenue and expenditures,” he said, pointing out that he believes teachers and staff should be earning more.
Minneapolis teachers make an average of $71,535 per year, which is about $14,000 less than St. Paul teachers make on average, MPR reported.
Callahan has said that securing $35,000 per year for education support professionals is her top priority. Their starting salaries are $24,000 per year.
The school system has lost more than 640 educators in the last 18 months and Callahan accused the district of “power hoarding.
TREND FORECAST: Unionization will continue to be a Top Trend; the more limited the supply of workers made worse by “No Jab, No Job” mandates; (see “WANT TO KEEP YOUR JOB? GET THE JAB!” and “NO JAB, NO JOB. VACCINE MANDATES ‘WORKING’”), the more powerful the trend toward unionization will be.
February’s consumer price index was up 7.9 percent, which was the biggest jump in 40 years, and the price impacted household goods.
Inflation is expected to continue to rise amid the growing conflict in Ukraine and sanctions leveled by the U.S. against Russia.
CNBC reported that the Fed is expected to announce its first rate hike this week “to curb inflation before it becomes too entrenched.”
And, as inflation continues to rise faster than wages, corporations that wish to incentivize their workforce to do and give the best they can, will raise the pay scale to levels higher than inflation rates. In doing so, they will create atmospheres of mutual appreciation.