The West Virginia Education Association is a professional interest group in West Virginia that serves as a voice for all public school teachers in the state. The WVEA is a voluntary membership organization that has around 15,000 active members, with over a 100 local affiliates around the state and a larger association with the National Education Association. The WVEA is based out of Charleston, West Virginia and has 25 full-time staff members.
The West Virginia Education Association states that its primary mission is to advocate for education employees and unit the members of the teaching profession to achieve West Virginia's promise of a high quality public education system for all students. In the teacher strike that took place in West Virginia, which members of the WVEA helped organize, the main goal of the teachers and employees who went on strike was for all teachers and public employees in the state to receive a 5% raise. They were able to accomplish this goal.
The WVEA works to ensure that the state government in West Virginia treats public school employees, and all public employees in general, fairly and provides them adequate funding and benefits. Other groups that work in opposition to the WVEA are primarily conservative anti-union organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Manhattan Institute. While these groups do not directly attack the WVEA, the generally work as political think-tanks that help write bills and draft legislation that takes away funding from labor unions and reduce the impact they have on a local, state, and national level. A link that discuses these groups more in greater detail has been attached below.
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/17090-union-dues-and-donts-how-conser...
