By RYAN QUINN
Charleston Gazette-Mail
(Gazette-Mail photo by Craig Hudson)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Early this year, West Virginia’s public school employees — despite legal threats and union leaders’ calls, later recanted, to return to work — held their first statewide strike. It was also the first such walkout to include teachers and service personnel, like bus drivers and cooks.
Those school workers are the 2018 Gazette-Mail West Virginians of the Year, but recent events have shown that the gains they won remain in doubt.
Gov. Jim Justice’s Public Employees Insurance Agency Task Force, created as part of a deal to end the strike, announced on Dec. 10 that it won’t recommend a long-term way to fund the state health insurance program at its current benefit levels before the next legislative session.
Previous Gazette-Mail West Virginians of the Year
(Courtesy photo)
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