Approximately 1000 public school teachers went on a one-day strike in Brookline, Massachusetts - a state where public sector strikes are expressly forbidden by the law - in mid May to demand wage increases and improvements to working conditions.

It was an illegal strike, but not a wildcat; the Brookline Educators’ Union was instrumental in organizing the strike, and did so with the support of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), which is in turn affiliated with the National Education Association. Moreover, it was not a spontaneous outbreak, but the carefully planned culmination of a protracted campaign by the teachers to pressure the school board.

Negotiations with the school board ensued the entire night following the first day of the strike, ending when all of the teachers’ demands were met.

This struggle demonstrates that the law is not an absolute limit to the working class, but rather a semi-permeable barrier that can be passed through under the right conditions.

Even in the United States, “Land of the Free”, legal restrictions on the rights of workers to withhold their labor are ubiquitous in the public sector, especially in economically essential industries like those of the supply chain (railroads, postal service, aviation, etc.). In industries other than education, the consequences of defying the law may be much harsher. There are numerous historical instances of severe state repression of illegal strikes, many of which ended in disaster, setting back the labor movement for many years. The PATCO strike in 1981 is one such case. But in other cases, the workers have succeeded despite similar responses from the government, as in the postal strike of 1970.

Workers of other categories and industries should look to the Brookline teachers’ strike for lessons on overcoming legal obstacles to their freedom to strike, while also being aware of the differences between the situation of the teachers and their own situation. Depending on the circumstances, illegal methods may be more suitable than legal methods, or vice-versa. All options should be weighed objectively; the only reason to rule out a possible approach is ineffectiveness, not recognition by the state–an instrument of the bourgeoisie and an enemy of the proletariat.