'We Will Stay!' West Virginia Teachers Vote to Occupy State Capitol Until Demands Met

Though you may not know it from the corporate media’s coverage—or lack thereof—West Virginia teachers are still striking in an effort to win both a pay raise and a permanent fix to their soaring health insurance premiums, and on Friday they voted to occupy the state capitol until their demands are met.

Watch teachers chant “We will stay!” shortly following the vote:

Earlier this week, West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice and the state’s education union leaders reached an agreement on a bill that would raise teacher pay by 5 percent—meeting, at least in word, one of the teachers’ core demands.

However, the compromise did not offer a permanent fix to the state’s Public Employee Insurance Agency amid rising premiums, so teachers decided to continue striking.