Minneapolis students show support for striking teachers, April 10, 1970. Photograph by Buzz for the St. Paul Dispatch/Pioneer Press. Twin Cities Newspapers Negatives Collection, Minnesota Historical Society.
|
After months of negotiations between teachers’ unions and the Minneapolis Public School District failed to reach an agreement to reduce class sizes and increase pay and school supplies, members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers voted to go on strike on April 6, 1970. During the strike, which was illegal for public employees like teachers in Minnesota, 1,100 teachers walked off the job and picketed outside of Minneapolis schools and were joined by students in support. After three weeks on strike, teachers agreed to return to work when the school district offered revised wages and agreed not to punish any teachers for having been on strike. In 1971, the Minnesota state legislature responded to the strike and pressure from unions and the public by passing the Public Employee Labor Relations Act (PELRA), which gave government employees and their unions stronger bargaining rights and the right to strike legally, and a series of tax reforms called the “Minnesota Miracle” aimed at reducing uneven school funding across the state. The success of the strike and PERLA helped inspire other teachers and government workers to strike for better conditions, and the “Minnesota Miracle” remained the main rules governing Minnesota school funding for over 30 years.
|
Sources to Get Started |