Here's the setup:
The Michigan Education Association had its apple cart turned upside down when the Wolverine State went "right-to-work" in December. This means that, unlike California and 25 other states, a worker doesn't have to pay union dues as a condition of employment.Here's the part the unions and their u-bot zombie supporters just cannot argue:
My introduction to union coercion came in 2005, when, as a middle school teacher in Los Angeles, I joined the Prop. 75 campaign. That initiative would have prohibited public employee labor organizations from collecting the part of union dues which goes for politics without prior consent of the employee. Sensing a disruption in their forced dues gravy train, the California Teachers Association went into overdrive. It raised union dues on its members for a three-year period and mortgaged their offices in Sacramento, then used the millions they accumulated to scare teachers and the public – ominously warning them of imaginary horrors that would be visited on them if the proposition passed.
Teachers unions are forever telling its members how much the union does for them in the way of wages, job benefits, etc. You would think that an organization that does so much for its members wouldn't have to resort to bullying to keep them in the fold.The rest of the piece is just as strong, go take a read--especially the part about the unions' specious "free rider" complaint.
Unions can't do anything for teachers that teachers can't do for themselves, and, as learned professionals, ought to be doing for themselves.
ReplyDeleteIf you're a lousy teacher a union will get you what you can't get for yourself which is continued employment.
ReplyDeleteUnions will also, obviously, get you more then you're worth. Ask any of the older UAW workers. Having put in my time on the line I can tell you with authority that no one, including myself, were worth anywhere near what we were paid. The lousy workers were paid more then they were worth and the best workers were paid less then they were worth although in the case of assembly line workers everyone was overpaid.