Voices From 1975: The Strike (Part 1)
Note: This is the first in a series of inaugural posts on the new CEA blog. In an effort to preserve the institutional history of the Columbus Education Association, this ongoing series of posts will chronicle the 1974-1975 school year that led to the first and only strike by the membership of CEA. To view all published entries in the series, click here.
Columbus of late August, 1974 bore a remarkable resemblance to the Columbus of present day
. The city had seen double-digit percentage increases in population over the past three decades; now just over a half a million people called the capital city home.
The skyline was evolving. The American Union Insurance Citadel (later renamed the LeVeque Tower) had stood a lonely guard over the downtown landscape since its birth in 1927. Its supremacy would soon be challenged by skyscrapers under construction at the time, buildings that would end up with names like Rhodes, Nationwide and Borden.
Nationally, the United States saw the end of the 5 month long OPEC oil embargo and a peak of high gas and oil prices. Only a few weeks earlier on August 9th, President Richard Nixon ended two years of speculation over his future as a result of the Watergate Break-In by resigning as President of the United States.
The Ohio State Buckeyes were the talk of the town. Fresh off of a 42-21 win over USC in the January 1974 Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes were poised to return to the gridiron, led by Coach Woody Hayes, recovering from a recent heart attack. Returning players included Brian Baschnagel, quarterback Cornelius Green and a junior tailback by the name of Archie Griffin.
Almost all
Little did they know that this would be an eventful year for bargaining.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
As a young teacher at Central High School I walked the picket line and waved at administrators as they arrived for district meetings. I remember one walking commuter who scolded us for striking (her view was that teachers had no business out there). January weather being what it is in Columbus, I wondered myself how wise it was to end a contract in December! The strike experience did bring the staff closer together and verify for the Board of Education that CEA was a unifying force.