Follow the purple workers; they know what they're doing!

There is a global assault on public education, teachers, & teacher’s unions, with significant strikes in Uganda, Nigeria, Greece, the US, India. Here cops in Srinagar, India are manhandling & arresting a Kashmiri teacher during a protest to demand raises & regularization of their jobs. This is a long standing battle since many teachers have been on temporary contracts since 1994 & even held a hunger strike last summer over the issue. They’re demanding contract workers be made permanent & that all vacancies be filled. Last month in Srinagar, several protests by public service workers, including teachers, were attacked by cops trying to prevent public protests & strikes. Fifty strikers were injured; some required hospitalization. Srinagar cops spray toxic purple chemical dyes from water cannons. The water cannons are dangerous enough by themselves without adding chemicals & cause any number of injuries, including broken bones, eye & skin damage, injured internal organs. Our solidarity & highest respect for these strikers on the front lines of defending public education.(Photograph by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP)