Jessica Salfia and Lynn Waltz Speak at VFOTB

On Friday, March 22, in the heart of City Council, the Labor Unions and Strikes panel for the Virginia Festival of the Book took place. This was one of the main locations for many VFOTB events. The members of the audience varied in age, but everyone was there for one reason and that was to learn more about authors Jessica Salfia and Lynn Waltz and their books having to do with labor unions and strikes.

Lynn Waltz is the author of Hog Wild, a book about “the battle for workers’ rights at the largest slaughterhouse,” as written on the cover of her book. She has been nominated two times for the Pulitzer Prize and is a journalist. Waltz mentioned that the book takes place at Smithfield Slaughterhouse in Tarheel, North Carolina. While talking about her book, Waltz said, “Labor and the middle class cannot exist without congressional litigation.”  

Jessica Salfia is one of the co-authors of the book 55 Strong. She is also the President of West Virginia Council of Teachers of English, a high school English teacher, and helps run the WVCTE. The book shares personal experiences from the West Virginia Teacher Strike of 2018. According to Salfia, striking in West Virginia was illegal in 2016. The reason for the strike in 2018 was the “erosion of pay,” said Salfia. This meant that teachers pay was being cut by a sufficient amount. Salfia went on to describe the work environment as being, “overcrowded and underfunded.” Teachers in West Virginia went as far as even holding what Salfia described as, “fed up Fridays.”

As the session ended, audience members were welcomed to buy a book from each author and had the opportunity to get the book signed and speak with the authors. The authors were open to talking about anything relating to books, their lives, and their professions.