Thursday, March 22, 2018

Perhaps A Post-Janus World Won't Be As Apocalyptic As Union Stalwarts Fear

Joanne has two great posts up today:
What teachers make — with cost of living
Which states pay teachers the most and least when cost of living is factored in? asks NPR’s Cory Turner.

Study: Bargaining doesn’t raise teacher pay
Collective bargaining doesn’t improve teacher pay, according to a new study, reports Madeline Will on Ed Week.
Thirty-three states passed mandatory collective bargaining laws since the 1960s. Those states do typically have higher teacher salaries and higher per-pupil education spending, but they already did so “well before the emergence of collective bargaining rights or modern teacher unions,” the study found...
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule against mandatory “agency fees” for public-sector workers who choose not to join unions in the Janus case. If so, unions will lose members, money and clout. However, the West Virginia teachers’ wildcat strike has shown that teachers can get what they want without going through a union.
So how much will really change, besides more freedom for the worker?

2 comments:

Curmudgeon said...

I'm a co-president and contract negotiator for our local union ... and I don't think this will have much effect on the locals, but huge effect on the state union (but I don't care about them: bloody useless.)

pro: $600 choice that can be freely made by a teacher. (The agency fees in this state are 80% of the union fee.)

con: members drop out making for fewer people to do the local things: officers, grievance, negotiations, representations, etc.

neither: We don't see any of that agency fee or of the union dues, so can't say that I give a damn one way or the other. I get no stipend for either of the things I do for the union.

For me: I'm tired of my union demanding money. If it wants money, it should deliver some benefit. The only benefits that my members see from the union are supplied by members of our local association, for free.

Darren said...

I agree completely. I'd even be a member of my local if they'd let me, but state/national rules forbid it--I have to be a member of all 3 or none at all.

If unions deliver value for the money, people will join. If they don't, they'll whither and die. I'd prefer the former, actually. But by being *entitled* to money in 22 states means that people pay *and* get no value, the worst of both worlds.