This project was a followup to ‘Mad City‘ composite photos from protests regarding public sector workers’ right to collectively bargain in Wisconsin, on the occasion of protest in support of Wisconsin public workers, held by unions in North Adams, Massachusetts, April 4th, 2011:
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I am a union member, a teacher in the Massachusetts State College Association which is allied with the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the National Education Association. The constant sloganeering at protest events disturbs me– the signage, for example, that ‘we are one’ is in my opinion misleading. Union members come from many walks of life, and rarely do we all agree with each other. We are diverse. We are many.
That plurality is our strength, and the fundamental reason to be a union member is to be able to participate, to vote along with one’s peers, colleagues and coworkers in a democratic process of negotiation: to have a say in the qualities of one’s work.I hope that the photos relate to this sense of plurality more than to a sense of a sloganized harmony that doesn’t exist.
That much said, we state professors in Massachusetts earn about 20% less (opens pdf file) than average pay of public professors in other states, and yet we achieve impressive results. (open link to find MA state performance reports regarding higher education). Translation: Massachusetts is a fine proof that public workers can create excellent value for the investment in education. If we can do it, so can other states. It’s completely unnecessary to attack public worker’s rights to negotiate their jobs. What is necessary is to ensure that public workers create effective, quality work. The best way to do that is to pay public teachers a decent wage, keep class sizes small, allow for many different styles and approaches to teaching and a vast array of content in every field: assert our diversity and variety, and keep us as many.
