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Diane Galloway

@adgwatches.bsky.social

6.5K followers 4.2K following 4.8K posts

Witch. Strategist. Political scientist. Former union organizer. Current academic. I write fiction, poetry, and political commentary. Dog content as a bonus.

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

Comrades, I’m inclined to tell you a story from my organizing days. In 2018, I was one of hundred of union organizers who had the privilege to assist with a nine-day, statewide, unauthorized teachers’ strike to save their schools from a critical staffing shortage. Buckle up, it’s a good one. 1/x

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Reposted by Diane Galloway

Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 7m

important to remember that no matter how unpopular you think the regime is currently, this is actually the most popular they will ever be between today and any dat you pick in the future

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 11h

Glad that game is over. I wasn’t watching it but a bunch of you started sounding like you forgot the taste of bread, the sound of trees etc.

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 11h

Sarah. Your dogs are heavenly

Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 12h

Thank you David.

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 14h

Thank you 😊

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 14h

Thanks 😊

Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 14h

Thanks 😊

Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 14h

Thank you!! Solidarity

Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

Thank you - and YES.

Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

I forgot to count these but for what it’s worth, end/thread

Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

What I know from my experience in WV is this: when the masses figure it out that we have one common enemy, and decide to work together against that enemy, their political differences dissolve pretty quick. And whether the official leadership likes it or not, when the workers get going, they’re going

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

To me, it felt like this weird, capitalist paternalistic instinct to return the workers to their duties, perhaps with their conditions somewhat improved, but not making any significant changes to the under lying systemic problems that led to the strike in the first place. Does that sound familiar

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

The workers had assembled the power and decided to strike against a billionaire who refused to raise their wages. They understood the score. But among the leadership, there was a hesitancy to disrupt the entire apple cart that prompted them to seek the quickest route back to the status quo

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

Final thoughts: I have enormous amount of respect for union leaders, especially in the public sector. That job is one of the hardest in the world: an agent of the state, who is attempting to negotiate against the state, on behalf of other employees of the state. The ethics fuck up a lot of people

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

Like I said. Beautiful. We can have that anywhere. West Virginia is a state that went for Trump by 40 points only two years before this spontaneous, class conscious uprising among the educators in some of America’s most historically oppressed communities

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

When Gov. Justice was considering sending in the capitol police to disperse the crowds and “get those teachers back to work,” a protestor next to me at the capitol laughed and said, “send them in, Jim! The capitol police have the same insurance we do. We’re on the same team, I’ll organize him!”

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

She had a masters degree, and four kids, and all she wanted was to make enough money teaching so she wouldn’t need to spend her evenings handing out burgers at a drive through instead of helping her kids with their homework

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

One teacher I met, who went on to give rousing speeches to the assembled crowd and interviews to national news outlets, told me she worked a second job at a fast food restaurant to make ends meet

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

They were making 35-45k per year, some of them with masters degrees!

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

These were public school teachers and bus drivers, paraprofessionals and librarians and nurses, all uniting as one to demand the state fund their schools adequately so they could teach the children of West Virginia in the way they deserved

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

It rained nearly every day for the entire strike. It didn’t matter, crowds were in the thousands, the chants inside the rotunda nonstop all day. These educators were relentless. Honestly it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and the by far the most formative experience I’ve had

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

The coalition of unions’ leadership were caught by surprise, but recognized that the workers were going to strike with or without them, so gamely rushed to catch up, coordinating press coverage and picket lines and safety measures for the massive rallies at the capitol building in Charleston

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

Teachers were so insulted by this proposal that over the course of several statewide snow days, they organized a secret Facebook group and laid plans to build to a statewide strike. It was a purely organic movement, put together by rank-and-file workers from three different unions

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

The state’s Republican governor and sole billionaire, Jim Justice, had proposed a 1% pay increase — you read that right — and vague promises to discuss the health insurance issue in the future. The language he used was so paternalistic and condescending I have blocked most of the details out.

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Diane Galloway @adgwatches.bsky.social · 15h

The main issue that prompted the strike was a critical staffing shortage, owing to abysmal state-provided health insurance, and pay so low that teachers were commuting to neighboring states to take the same job for $20-$30k more annually. Teachers wanted raises so they could fill classrooms.

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