You can Agree with this Governor or you can Agree to Disagree. Are Teacher Unions the problem?
Monday, September 13, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
In Colorado: Unions Abuse Non-Member Teacher Paychecks
Posted by Rachel Culbertson - August 23, 2010
While Colorado has a few advantages over Washington state when it comes to workers' rights (Colorado is a Right-to-Work state), this hasn’t stopped the Colorado Teachers Unions from pulling a fast one.
Our friends over at the Independence Institute just produced a great video highlighting an unjust policy that happens in Colorado. From the YouTube summary:
“Due to family medical hardships, non-union Pueblo school employee Becky Robertson missed an annual deadline to opt out of union fee paycheck deductions. The union rejected her appeal. Though she had chosen not to be a union member, Becky ended up paying the union hundreds of dollars that could have been used for medical bills and other expenses. Why do Colorado laws allow this type of abuse to continue?"
This type of abuse shows that while Right-to-Work laws are a step in the right direction toward worker freedom, they can’t always protect from union abuses. Why not? Even in a Right-to-Work state, unions have monopoly status over an entire workplace. As the exclusive representative of a school, company, or agency, unions still have considerable power and aren’t always motivated to work in their customers’ best interest.
If unions had to compete with other unions for members, they might show a little more understanding towards those facing medical hardships.
To learn more about Colorado union policies and what the Independence Institute is doing to inform teachers and bring about change, visit their Independent Teachers website.
While Colorado has a few advantages over Washington state when it comes to workers' rights (Colorado is a Right-to-Work state), this hasn’t stopped the Colorado Teachers Unions from pulling a fast one.
Our friends over at the Independence Institute just produced a great video highlighting an unjust policy that happens in Colorado. From the YouTube summary:
“Due to family medical hardships, non-union Pueblo school employee Becky Robertson missed an annual deadline to opt out of union fee paycheck deductions. The union rejected her appeal. Though she had chosen not to be a union member, Becky ended up paying the union hundreds of dollars that could have been used for medical bills and other expenses. Why do Colorado laws allow this type of abuse to continue?"
This type of abuse shows that while Right-to-Work laws are a step in the right direction toward worker freedom, they can’t always protect from union abuses. Why not? Even in a Right-to-Work state, unions have monopoly status over an entire workplace. As the exclusive representative of a school, company, or agency, unions still have considerable power and aren’t always motivated to work in their customers’ best interest.
If unions had to compete with other unions for members, they might show a little more understanding towards those facing medical hardships.
To learn more about Colorado union policies and what the Independence Institute is doing to inform teachers and bring about change, visit their Independent Teachers website.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Is Obama Ethics Pledge Toothless?
Last week, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate whether Obama recess appointee Craig Becker violated his ethics pledge by participating in federal labor board cases involving his former employer, the radical Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
As you may recall, Foundation attorneys asked Becker to recuse himself in more than a dozen cases because his published writings and record as a top union lawyer reveal an extreme level of hostility toward the Foundation and independent-minded employees.
Becker refused to recuse himself in all but one case, and he now claims that he can participate in cases involving SEIU affiliates and local unions -- even though the supposedly strict ethics pledge he signed explicitly forbids him from participating in a case with his former employer for two years.
The forced unionism extremist -- who has even suggested that unionization should be mandated on all employees -- claims that the national and local unions are "separate legal entities."
The Wall Street Journal has picked up on Becker's strained argument: "No one understands better than Mr. Becker the deep organizational and financial ties between the SEIU and its locals, having been the attorney who crafted national legal strategies for use by SEIU locals everywhere."
If Craig Becker's shaky analysis stands, the Obama Administration's much-touted ethics pledge clearly is not worth the paper it is printed on.
Read the full editorial.
The Foundation relies on the voluntary support of individual Americans who believe in our cause and wish to advance our strategic litigation program. To make a fully tax-deductible donation in whatever amount, please click here.
As you may recall, Foundation attorneys asked Becker to recuse himself in more than a dozen cases because his published writings and record as a top union lawyer reveal an extreme level of hostility toward the Foundation and independent-minded employees.
Becker refused to recuse himself in all but one case, and he now claims that he can participate in cases involving SEIU affiliates and local unions -- even though the supposedly strict ethics pledge he signed explicitly forbids him from participating in a case with his former employer for two years.
The forced unionism extremist -- who has even suggested that unionization should be mandated on all employees -- claims that the national and local unions are "separate legal entities."
The Wall Street Journal has picked up on Becker's strained argument: "No one understands better than Mr. Becker the deep organizational and financial ties between the SEIU and its locals, having been the attorney who crafted national legal strategies for use by SEIU locals everywhere."
If Craig Becker's shaky analysis stands, the Obama Administration's much-touted ethics pledge clearly is not worth the paper it is printed on.
Read the full editorial.
The Foundation relies on the voluntary support of individual Americans who believe in our cause and wish to advance our strategic litigation program. To make a fully tax-deductible donation in whatever amount, please click here.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, is assisting thousands of employees in nearly 200 cases nationwide. Its web address is www.nrtw.org/.
To help the National Right to Work Foundation grow; please forward this to a friend.
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To help the National Right to Work Foundation grow; please forward this to a friend.
To view as a web page, please click this link: view online.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Teachers' Union's Last Stand
Read the NY Times Magazine article, "The Teachers' Union's
Last Stand", from last Sunday's issue at
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/magazine/23Race-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Some highlights: NEA and AFT have 4.6 million members, 1/4 of all union members in the US.
Ten percent of the delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention were teachers' union members.
In the last 30 years teachers' unions have contributed more than $57 million to federal campaigns,
30% higher than any single corporation or other union. Typically they have contributed more
to state and local candidates, 95% to Democrats.
In return, they have secured lockstep compensation based on seniority, tenure rules which make it all but impossible to
fire ineffective teachers, and, in many states, contracts which require teachers to become union members and prohibit
teacher evaluation based on student achievement.
Pete
Last Stand", from last Sunday's issue at
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/magazine/23Race-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Some highlights: NEA and AFT have 4.6 million members, 1/4 of all union members in the US.
Ten percent of the delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention were teachers' union members.
In the last 30 years teachers' unions have contributed more than $57 million to federal campaigns,
30% higher than any single corporation or other union. Typically they have contributed more
to state and local candidates, 95% to Democrats.
In return, they have secured lockstep compensation based on seniority, tenure rules which make it all but impossible to
fire ineffective teachers, and, in many states, contracts which require teachers to become union members and prohibit
teacher evaluation based on student achievement.
Pete
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