This is a good point, but it's notable that the only major strike victory since 2008 was by government employees. There have only been a few other notable stri

This is a good point, but it's notable that the only major strike victory since 2008 was by government employees. There have only been a few other notable strikes in that time, outside of special cases like pro sports. And aside from one narrow strike (UAW vs Kohler), most of them have ended with token concessions (Verizon, which yielded to strikers much further in 2000) or complete collapse (USW Oil Workers, in their first strike since the 80s). It's not a coincidence that the last strike by GM workers was in 2007, right before the company became obviously precarious. Government employees in general have been insulated from the decline in private-sector union strength. And beyond that, there's real reason that teachers are not a standard example of the "working class", even compared to other government work like the USPS. They are working class by salary, and that's important to remember. But it's also true that schools aren't subject to market downturns and offshoring the way manufacturing has been, and that teachers - who have multiple degrees and responsibility for people's children - are unusually hard to hire and replace. I think you're right that the working class has more power than it's currently bringing to bear, but it has lost quite a lot of actual and even potential influence over the last few decades.