For years, teacher aides in west Frankfort, Ill., were the only full-time employees in the school district who didn't receive health insurance. They sought it many times in contract negotiations but were always turned down.

This year, the aides--the term they use for paraprofessionals in the district--decided they wouldn't take no for an answer. After a two-day strike in August that shut down the schools when other employee groups in the district also refused to report to work, the 25 members of the West Frankfort Federation of Teachers Aides Council finally won their battle. Faced with the prospect of a longer strike and a rock-solid commitment by employees not to cross the picket line, the school board and superintendent relented and gave the aides the same health coverage others in the district receive.

"We knew going in that we were going to stand for the insurance until we got it," says Dawn Wilson, president of the aides council. "We felt singled out, and it had become a respect issue to a lot of us, especially people who have been with the union for years."

Before the actual strike date, the aides enjoyed tremendous support from the teachers (who are also represented by AFT) and other groups, such as the cooks, janitors and secretaries (who are Teamsters), as well as parents and other citizens. During an evening session with a mediator, in a final attempt to reach an agreement before the strike date, more than 100 supporters stood outside the superintendent's office and made enough noise for the parties inside to hear them.

The aides weren't sure what would happen--or if anyone would decide to cross the picket line--when they arrived at the picket line at 5 a.m. on Aug. 22. But it didn't take long to find out. Much to the district's surprise, all the cooks stayed home, so the superintendent cancelled school in the morning. "The cooks really took the heat off everyone else," Wilson says. The district cancelled classes again the next day, but employees were expected to report to work. The cooks, janitors and teachers did just that--showing up to support the aides--and then they went home. The aides won their health insurance that night.

"We really learned the hard way that if you want something, you have to fight for it," Wilson says. "We weren't asking for anything unreasonable."

The solidarity both among her own members and with other employee groups in the district, she adds, has brought them all closer together. Keith Griffin, president of the West Frankfort Federation of Teachers, agrees: "The aides' strike has made all of us stronger. If we all stick together, we all win."