The union representing Newark teachers announced a five-year deal with its school district on Aug. 13 that eliminates merit-based bonuses and allows low-rated teachers to earn pay increases. The changes overturn key elements of a controversial 2012 contract and represent a shift away from former Mayor Cory Booker’s education reform agenda, which sought to introduce corporate-style accountability and compensation practices into public education.

Educators in California’s Bay Area ended their three-week strike on June 9, enabling them to be back in their classrooms for the final week of school. The strike, the New Haven Unified School District’s first, saw nearly 600 teachers, school counselors, psychologists, speech therapists and nurses join picket lines outside their schools in a fight over pay.

During the final Delegate Assembly of the school year on June 12, UFT President Michael Mulgrew talked about how the new DOE-UFT contract has given members a greater voice in their workplaces this year.

Some 18,000 teachers in the Clark County School District in Nevada have vowed to strike if the state doesn’t come through with funding to pay for salary increases without cuts to the classroom.

Public school teachers in California are forced by state law to pay for their own substitute teachers when they take extended sick leave. 

Hundreds of McDonald’s workers walked off the job in 13 cities on May 23 to call for a minimum wage of $15 per hour and expanded rights in their workplace, including protection from sexual harassment. The labor action came the same week as employees in 20 cities filed sexual harassment complaints against the fast food company.