Sunday, August 28, 2005

If Only *I* Could Leave The NEA

Focus on the Family, everyone's favorite religious organization (and target), informs us about the following:

NEA Conservative Caucus to Bolt Union
By Steve Jordahl

The National Education Association’s Conservative Educators Caucus, tired of having their voice within the union ignored, is looking to leave the NEA and join a different association. The caucus could take thousands of disaffected teachers and even entire districts with them....


“What I don’t like is really quite simple. President Hillary? It just gives me the shivers. If they’re going to be involved in politics, they should ask me to be involved. But they’re not asking. They want me to pay my dues and be quiet at this point.”


Hm. Pay the dues and be quiet. We know what's best for you. Where have we heard this before?

I wish I had the option of leaving the union and not still supporting them with my money.

You know, I calculated today that my local/state/national unions take around 2% of my pay each month? Isn't that egregious? Are there any other unions that take so much money?

7 comments:

echotig said...

Forgive my ignorance. You mean to tell me that you can't leave the NEA? You HAVE to be in it?

Darren said...

California is a closed-shop state, not a right-to-work state. This means that even if I opt not to be a union member, I still have to give up an amount equal to union dues to a union-approved charity--and then, only if I'm a certified member of a religious organization that has an issue with the union or with union membership, *not* because I disagree with them politically!

I could be an "agency fee payer", which in theory means that the union would refund to me any of my dues money that was not spent on collective bargaining. Unfortunately, here in California the union has horrible record-keeping, teachers are not allowed to see any records in advance or to have an accountant look at the records, and the union refunds a paltry amount (in the area of 15%). Additionally, I wouldn't be a full union member and wouldn't even get to vote on my own contract!!!

So in effect, I'm compelled to be a member of my local union, which compels me to be a member of both the state and federal unions (CTA and NEA).

And as for you, Smack, crank your neck back a bit--and keep reading this blog! Good to see you have enough free time to keep up!

Darren said...

Walter is *obviously* in the union hierarchy :-) If not, he's got the technique, vocabulary, and attitude down pat.

Dan Edwards said...

No Suh, Masta Lincoln didt free ALL the slaves!

IF teachers have to be in a "union" I wish we had a choice between CTA/NEA and CFT/AFT. AFT seems MUCH more interested in teacher salary, working conditions, etc., and less on social issues and such crap. One of my relitives in the midwest was a member of AFT and their local affiliate......they actually went on strike, walked picket lines and played hardball. Maybe it has something to do with AFT's AFL-CIO affiliation? They are a "real" union, not a group of wannabe social engineers.

Someone needs to investigate how to change to AFT if they are forced to be part of CTA/NEA. I doubt we'd get much help/data from CTA or uniserv about this......

Darren, did you fill out and send in your postcard to keep CTA from spending your dues money for their political association? If not, do it before it is too late. I think I wrote a blog about it, but you might have been on vacation at that time.

Darren said...

Polski, the CTA office is less than 2 miles from my house. I went down there once--saw the DNC calendar on the wall--and filled one out. I should probably do so again, just to make sure, huh?

I agree with your assessment of CTA/NEA as "wannabe social engineers" and your reasons about why the AFT might be a better organization. Personally, I'd prefer the Association of American Educators. They say they're a professional organization, not a union at all. I like that.

Anonymous said...

Darren:

I thought this may be of interest seeing Labor Day is just around the corner and your location on the left coast.

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation today released The State of Labor: A review of organized labor and worker freedom in 2005. The report, published in conjunction with Labor Day, reviews significant developments in the organized labor movement in 2005 and recommends policies that advance the First Amendment rights of America’s workers.

The report analyzes the recent AFL-CIO split in which a third of the Federation’s members left to form an alternative organization. It describes the roots of the disagreement and the implications of the proposed solutions on the political agenda and organizing efforts of labor unions.

It also talks about CA union political spending which is relevant to Prop 75.

Here are the links to the press release and report.

Press release: http://effwa.org/main/article.php?article_id=1064
Full report: http://www.effwa.org/pdfs/labor2005.pdf

Ryan Bedford
Labor Policy Analyst
Evergreen Freedom Foundation

Darren said...

Thank you, Ryan. I've read EFF reports before, especially as relate to union activities. I'll be sure to take a look-see at this one, too.