More than 25,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union hit the picket lines on Oct. 17 after the city failed to meet their demands for larger salary increases, smaller class sizes and more support staff in schools.

More than 37,000 workers at the Kaiser Permanente health care corporation in California have voted to authorize a strike in October over unfair labor practices and understaffing. The walkout would be the nation’s largest strike in more than 20 years.

Fifty percent of teachers say they’ve considered leaving the profession over low pay, stress and a lack of respect.

The union representing Newark teachers announced a five-year deal with its school district on Aug. 13 that eliminates merit-based bonuses and allows low-rated teachers to earn pay increases. The changes overturn key elements of a controversial 2012 contract and represent a shift away from former Mayor Cory Booker’s education reform agenda, which sought to introduce corporate-style accountability and compensation practices into public education.

Educators in California’s Bay Area ended their three-week strike on June 9, enabling them to be back in their classrooms for the final week of school. The strike, the New Haven Unified School District’s first, saw nearly 600 teachers, school counselors, psychologists, speech therapists and nurses join picket lines outside their schools in a fight over pay.

During the final Delegate Assembly of the school year on June 12, UFT President Michael Mulgrew talked about how the new DOE-UFT contract has given members a greater voice in their workplaces this year.