CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — Progress is being reported in the effort to merge the two teachers’ unions in West Virginia: The West Virginia Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers – West Virginia.

The goal is to give teachers a bigger voice at the capitol and in the classroom. There are a number of things teachers want to get done and they believe a united union will help.

The most visible signs of the power of West Virginia’s two teachers’ unions were the back-to-back strikes in 2018 and 2019. The strikes led to better pay and benefits. Now the teachers want improved measures for school attendance and better classroom discipline.

Many believe that aligning all teachers under just one union umbrella will give them a greater voice on the job and before policymakers.

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“Well, the benefit’s going to be that we will be a stronger voice, a united voice. And it will allow the two organizations to come together and do things in a different way, and even better way,” said Dale Lee, President of the West Virginia Education Association.

The rank-and-file members of each union will vote on the merger next spring. If approved, the merger would go into effect on Sept. 1 of next year.

The West Virginia Department of Education estimates there are 18,000 teachers in the Mountain State with about 1,500 vacancies that need to be filled.

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