 UTNO had prepared for the strike by working closely with parents and community activists this time, and soon parents began joining the picket line and protesting as well.The strike lasted 12 days before the district agreed to recognize the union and sign a collective bargaining agreement, giving the union a 7 percent pay hike and better health insurance.UTNO became the first teachers' union in the Deep South to win a contract without the protection of a state public employee collective bargaining law.