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CHARLESTON -- Hundreds of teachers, school workers, public worker retirees, lawmakers and candidates, and supporters rallied on the front steps of the State Capitol Building on Sunday with a simple message for Republican legislators: they plan to remember in November.
The Unity Rally drew in less than 500 attendees Sunday, many of whom had umbrellas, rain boots, and ponchos in anticipation of the remnants of Tropical Storm Florence. The chance for rain didn’t dampen the spirits of those who rallied, yelling out chants and holding signs encouraging lawmakers to fix the Public Employees Insurance Agency among other issues.
“We’re back,” said Christine Campbell, president of the West Virginia chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.
Sunday’s rally attendees were just a small representation of the thousands of union members who rallied at the capitol daily in February. Members of the AFT-WV, the West Virginia Education Association, and the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association held a 16-day work stoppage after the legislature passed a smaller raise than the members desired.
After pressure from the 55-county work stoppage, the legislature passed a 5 percent pay raise for all executive branch state employees paid out of the general revenue fund. The strike ended March 6. Gov. Jim Justice also froze PEIA premium and coverage levels, and the Legislature put another $30 million into PEIA.
“The strike wasn’t a planned campaign,” Campbell said. “It definitely had never been done before. No one walked out of their classrooms or cafeterias or off their busses knowing what to expect other than expecting to be heard. We had no idea that what we were doing would attract global attention and start a movement beyond the mountains of West Virginia, but we knew we had had enough.”
On Sunday, leaders of the AFT-WV, WVEA, the WVSSPA, the West Virginia Association of Retired School Employees, West Virginia Coalition of Retired Public Employees, and the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers were joined on the capitol steps by Democratic legislators and candidates for office. Campbell told the crowd to vote Republicans out in November and elect candidates that care for their issues.
“Last February we showed that we’re not going to take it,” Campbell said. “And now we have a job to do because we’re not going to take it anymore and we are going to vote them out. Not the folks standing up here today, but the ones who wanted us to get back to work. We are getting back to work to vote these folks in and the others out.”
House Minority Whip Mike Caputo, D-Marion, fired up the crowd by talking about the PEIA Taskforce, formed by Justice in March after the strike ended to look at long-term solutions for how the public employee health insurance program can be fixed.
“I’ve been around state government a hell of a long time, and any time a governor forms a blue ribbon commission or a taskforce, that’s just a fancy name to kick the can down the road and delay, delay, delay,” Caputo said. “In seven months, nothing has happened to fix a problem that faces every one of you today.”
The PEIA Taskforce has until the December legislative interims to present a plan for fix or reforming PEIA, though there hasn’t been a taskforce subcommittee meeting since Aug. 23. Union representatives were circulating a petition – called the “PEIA Promise” – for attendees to sign. The petition calls for a solution for fixing PEIA by November 6.
“A one-year fix is unacceptable,” said WVSSPA Executive Director Joe White, reading from the petition document. “We cannot revisit this crisis year after year.”
Several candidates for federal office spoke, including U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. The senator is finishing up his first six-year term and running against Republican state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Manchin praised the attendees for taking a stand.
“In my lifetime I’ve never seen what you’ve done,” Manchin said.
Manchin criticized Morrisey for joining 17 other attorneys general in a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare. Experts say if the lawsuit is successful, it could put people with pre-existing health conditions at risk of higher premiums or being dropped from insurance altogether. Manchin also took a swipe at Morrisey, who threatened legal action to force teachers to end the February work stoppage.
“My opponent is basically suing the United State government to take that away from the people,” Manchin said. “That’s 800,000 West Virginians who would lose healthcare. It’s the same opponent that didn’t want you to stand up for the children of West Virginia. By God, you did it anyway.”