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The staff at my school are overwhelmingly people of faith---from different religions. When Prop 8 became a big controversial voting issue, some teachers were floored when the teachers' union supported the no vote on Prop 8. One of my colleagues said that he would fill out the form that stated that he didn't want his union dues to support any future political causes.
For me, I am not shocked that the teacher's union support any Democratic causes because they are all in it together to get their agendas passed. I always wondered how does the teachers' union support of any political cause not related to the classroom, teacher's salaries, and teacher's pensions can help teachers? Then it dawned on me, the teachers' union supports ALL Democratic causes so that the union can somehow convince liberals to continue to buy in to raising their taxes and approving more school funding at the expense of ALL tax payers.
In California you can write down when you join the union that none of your money is to be spent on political things. Then they legally cannot use yours. My aunt did that. I will do that when I start teaching. If my money had to be allowed to be used for those purposes I would not be able to join the union. It would go completely against everything I believe in to support most of the causes they support. Usually if we hear that the teacher's union is supporting something, we vote the opposite way.
For me, I am not shocked that the teacher's union support any Democratic causes because they are all in it together to get their agendas passed. I always wondered how does the teachers' union support of any political cause not related to the classroom, teacher's salaries, and teacher's pensions can help teachers? Then it dawned on me, the teachers' union supports ALL Democratic causes so that the union can somehow convince liberals to continue to buy in to raising their taxes and approving more school funding at the expense of ALL tax payers.
Yup, you've pretty much hit the nail on the head... particularly for the CA union.
not crazy about unions positions on social issues. but life without unions means exploitation of workers. i see so much of it. americans for the most part hate unions.
Fighting for the little guy is so terrible politically, isn't it? You may not always agree with everything, but the overall message is the same -- it's undoubtedly necessary. Huckleberry's right - want a life without it? Read Sinclair. And the world he depicted wasn't nearly as bad as some of the atrocities seen in prison labor camps until WWII.
Supporting the little guy is not the issue. I belong to a union and I do support "the little guy." I volunteer and donate and teach my child to do so because I believe in social justice. I teach at a low-income school. I send my child to public school (unlike Barack Obama, even before he became President). I would still never vote Democrat or support the majority of the party's causes, and I don't think being a teacher or being a part of the union should require me to support most of the party's causes.
I love the idea of a union but specifically did not join the local teachers' union b/c I did not care for their methods.
When I told the rep that I really wasn't interested--mostly b/c I couldn't afford the dues--he tried to scare me into joining by telling me that the union would "protect" me in case a pissed-off student, for example, trashed my car. I thought for a second that I had inadvertently stumbled onto the set of "Goodfellas II: The Witness Protection Program and the Evolution of the Suburban Mob."
I don't think that just b/c you are part of the union that it means that your dollars should go to every political cause that "the Union" wishes to support. And BTW, who exactly made the decision to support the prop? Was there a vote?
I love the idea of a union but specifically did not join the local teachers' union b/c I did not care for their methods.
When I told the rep that I really wasn't interested--mostly b/c I couldn't afford the dues--he tried to scare me into joining by telling me that the union would "protect" me in case a pissed-off student, for example, trashed my car. I thought for a second that I had inadvertently stumbled onto the set of "Goodfellas II: The Witness Protection Program and the Evolution of the Suburban Mob."
I don't think that just b/c you are part of the union that it means that your dollars should go to every political cause that "the Union" wishes to support. And BTW, who exactly made the decision to support the prop? Was there a vote?
Here you have to pay the same amount of dues to not join the union.
You can Opt Out in California for religious reasons. You must then donate your dues to a charity of the unions choice instead. Christian Educators Association International (CEAI) will give me $1,000,000 of liability coverage for abou $140.00 a year to cover any lawsuits or nonsense from the district.
They don't. The union funds that are designated for political action are used to support candidates or advocate policy of a pro-labor and pro-union leaning. If a conservative wants any of that money, all they have to do is promise pro-labor or pro-union legislative activity, and the unions will be happy to donate money to their election campaign. But if the candidate for governor of your midwestern state promises to bust the unions, and then goes ahead and does it, he will not get union support, regardless whether you think that candidate is liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican..
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