Right to strike states

Living in West Virginia, you can get way too accustomed to only bad news from our state being broadcast to the national masses.  But these days, it sure feels good for West Virginia to be considered a harbinger of the mass movements springing up around the country.  

In this Sunday’s New York Times opinion piece (that features our buddies Cathy Kunkel and Ryan Frankenberry—woot woot!), Noam Scheiber points out that while all the states with teacher uprisings recently are so-called right to work states, and therefore weakened unions, unions are as vital as ever to build on recent gains.  

In unrelated news, Xie Lan here shares Phil Kabler’s misty-eyed sentiment on losing Charleston Amtrak train station’s last station attendant, and the potential elimination of our beloved Cardinal line (woe would be me!).  I have the fondest memories of that station, awaiting arrival of family, placing pennies on the track to find them ironed perfectly flat after the train pushed out of the station, and most exciting of all climbing those big steps onto the train. One of our family’s most cherished trips was a cross-country train trip on Amtrak when I was 8 years old, a trip I hope to recreate with my own kids.  

Last word is from our own Liz Brunello who wrote this opinion piece in the Sunday Gazette Mail about the need for a living wage in Charleston.  Preach it Liz!