Archive for November 2019

Larry  Sand delves further into the “bargaining for the common good” issue. In June, 2016, unions across the country were expanding their focus to the broader conie mmunity, an effort which they call “bargaining for the common good.” The new strategy originated when public employee union leaders and community organizations gathered in Washington, D.C. in…

“Social justice unionism,” or “bargaining for the common good,” is the jimson weed of education, an invasive species that just keeps growing and growing.  In the past few years teacher union officials have fomented unrest over the loss of forced dues through the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s landmark Supreme Court Janus decision, and…

Oregon is a Model 3 teacher bargaining state.  That means, prior to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s Janus decision, teachers and other education personnel were mostly either forced to become a member of a teacher union and endure their exclusive representation power, or pay dues to an unwanted union, as an agency fee payor. …

Florida Education Association (FEA) teacher and other union officials have backed off on a lawsuit challenging HB 7055.  This House Bill requires teacher unions to be recertified if their dues-paying membership falls below half in any given district.  While the bill is a step in the right direction, it does not remove exclusive representation power…

Citizens of Illinois District 46 have been subjected to a teacher strike which began on Thursday, November 7, 2019.   Teacher union officials last led a strike in 2013 when their demands were not granted by the school board.  Russell Lisau has the story in thedailyherald.com. No classes, extracurricular activities, after-school programs or before-school programs will be…

Unions have various subtle and not-so-subtle ways of “punishing” those they represent (members and nonmembers) when these workers choose not to go the union way.  National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens, offers advice on how teachers who have become disillusioned with their membership can protect themselves.  Cole Lauterbach reports on…

Here are a few things teacher union officials either ignored, or did not plan for, in their strike devoted to improving students’ lives.  Now that the strike is over, Chicago students are scrambling to make up lost instructional time and fulfill other requirements for college admissions, sports competitions and many other activities that could not…