The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor Highlight

In a state like, say, New York, the typical teachers’ union contract runs fifty or even one hundred pages, with scrupulously detailed enforceable provisions covering everything from salaries to sabbaticals to school supplies. In South Carolina, thanks to the legal prohibition on public collective bargaining, a typical teacher’s contract is a single-page Contract for Employment, similar to what you might sign to accept a job at McDonald’s. It guarantees teachers nothing except the salary that the school board decides on—which, it is careful to note, may be reduced at any time due to loss of funding or furlough or decline in enrollment.