Friday, August 5, 2011

Teachers for Senate Bill 5: The Sequel

A few months back, I highlighted a teachers group called the Association of American Educators (AAE), a non-union professional teachers organization. Since the AAE had made a statement in support of Senate Bill 5, I titled the post, "Teachers for Senate Bill 5."
“The fact that Senate Bill 5 will save over $1 billion a year is a testament to the years of out-of-control demands by the unions. This law should be of no surprise to the leadership who have been overreaching for too long. Clearly lawmakers and voters aren’t listening anymore to the overreaching mentality of the unions. If this is really about the children, as the teachers union claims, we need fiscal discipline and more efficient ways of running our schools, not insurmountable debt. Everyone wants to see educators paid fairly without the threat of layoffs. The union's over asking, overreaching model has created this problem, leaving legislators to take the heat when tasked with bailing out the sinking ship that is the state budget.
That got the attention of some of the most vocal SB5 opponents, especially the folks over at Plunderbund, the main online hangout for Ohio's moonbat left. For some reason, they felt a compelling need to respond directly to our post with a post of their own.

In their post, they put forward 2 themes. The first was to tear down the legitimacy and the credibility of AAE. You see, progressives and the teachers unions want the public to believe that every single teacher in Ohio, is 100% behind the teacher's union agenda. A professional teachers organization like AAE, being non-union, is a threat and a contradiction to that facade, so they have no choice but to do their best to discredit them!

This leads into the Plunderpal's second assertion:
What’s also surprising is that their statement in support of SB 5 omits any indication of how many, if any, members they have are from Ohio, which is remarkable since they’re being quoted in a news story as attitudes about the referendum on SB 5 in Ohio.
In other words, "you can't prove AAE has any members in Ohio, thus, your assertion that there are Ohio teachers who support SB5 is false, you wingnut!"

Really? There are no teachers in Ohio who support SB5? Not any? That's as ridiculous as saying that it is literally impossible for a teacher to be a Republican. Now, come on Bytor, I know they are silly liberals, but they wouldn't say something THAT stupid! Would they? Hey, wanna bet these teachers support SB5?
Teachers suing union over use of fees

Some public school teachers say the Ohio Education Association is forcing them to help finance the union’s political activity.

In a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Columbus, 15 teachers claim that so-called fair-share fees taken from their paychecks are unlawfully being used to finance campaigns, lobby elected officials and similar efforts.

The teachers have declined to pay membership dues to the union, but are assessed a fee to help cover expenses incurred by the union in negotiating contracts which cover both members and non-members. In their suit, they contend their fee is also contributing to the union’s political work.
See, in Ohio, you CAN refuse to pay union dues, but if you do, you are still required to pay the union. They call them "fair share fees". Its a nice racket the unions have going on there, thanks to their pets in the Ohio Democratic Party.

You see, for decades, it's been a nice, corrupt little scheme for both parties involved. The Democrats make laws that are heavily tilted in the unions favor. Laws that require that every public school teacher must pay the union. In return, the unions take that free money forcibly stolen from their members, and give almost all of it back to the Democrats, after skimming some off the top to pay for their nice fat union boss salaries.

This highlights another reason the unions oppose SB5. It changes the law so that these fair share fees are no longer mandatory.
Mix was referring to the union’s efforts to support of a ballot measure to repeal Senate Bill 5 which would make fair-share payments voluntary for teachers and other public employees who refuse to pay union dues.
So, there you have it. I think its safe to say that these teachers, and many more like them, will be voting "yes" on Issue 2 this fall. Of course, they will be the minority of teachers, but I never claimed otherwise.

My point was, that there are many many teachers who do not like being forced to pay the unions and their far-left benefactors, and that they should have the choice to join the union. Or, perhaps, a voluntary organization like the AAE. Until that happens, the Democrats and unions will continue to lie to and distract the public from their crooked alliance. Democrats will continue to do whatever it takes to keep the coerced union cash flowing into their campaign accounts. And the unions will stop at nothing to keep every single public school teacher in Ohio as their legally mandated financier.

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11 comments:

  1. here's another example of how the teacher's unions screw everybody:
    http://articles.courant.com/2011-08-04/news/hc-hartford-aft-trigger-0804-20110804_1_governance-councils-gwen-samuel-black-ct-alliance

    The union thwarted the parents in their effort to gain control of failing schools. I am reminded of the quote from Albert Shanker about how he'll pay attention to the needs of the kids when the kids start paying dues.

    I can hardly wait for Modern's smarmy misdirection in response.

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  2. Oh and here's another one for Modern and the rest of the union apologists to chew on:
    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/273808/unions-and-identity-theft-california-james-sherk

    The unions in California were circulating misinformation about signing petitions and identity theft. It was totally bogus.

    Clearly the unions could care less about America. They are nothing more than a stupid parasite. A parasite so stupid that it will kill its host before it changes its ways.

    We need to take arms against this sea of trouble. I am heartened that someone is finally suing them. About darned time.

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  3. Ummm...that last plaintiff listed, Jade Thompson...her name is familiar, like she has some connection to state government...hmmm...

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  4. I talked to the AAE's HQ in California and asked them how many members they had from Ohio. They refused to say if they even had any.

    The "suit" you're mentioning is filed by the attorney for the Building a Better Ohio campaign. One of the plaintiffs is the wife of a Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives.

    Wow... fifteen whole teachers. Yep, we sure got served. DERP.

    Fair share exists because people shouldn't get the benefits of collective bargaining benefits without compensating the unions for their costs in obtaining them for even non-members. It's about fairness against freeloaders who want the benefits but don't want to pay the costs to obtain them.

    They HAVE a choice. Fair-share fees, by definition, are paid by people who AREN'T members of a union.

    Seriously, try learning about a topic if you're going to write about it sometime.

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  5. So if the AAE is such an impressive organization, maybe you can tell me how many, if any, member's they have in Ohio... given that you falsely presented them as representing Ohio teachers by quoting them as if they existed in Ohio when they're statement was issued out of California.

    What, a competitor upset at the success of their rivals? That IS NEWS!

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  6. That's 15 teachers willing to face the epic smear campaign union apologists will level against them; not bad if you ask me.

    Modern, I love that you - champion of The Working Class - have no problem calling non-union teachers "freeloaders." It really helps your narrative of caring about teachers & education, as opposed to just shilling for the unions!

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  7. Choice in Plunderland:

    #1 Join our leftist group and pay us money.

    #2 Don't join our leftist group, but STILL pay us.

    #3 Hit the road

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  8. I think anyone who takes the benefit of a collective bargaining agreement, but doesn't believe that they should pay for the costs to get those benefits for them is a free loader, yes.

    What, you think AAE would be different? LOL!

    You still haven't addressed the point that AAE is nothing more than a front group for "Right to Work" organizations, are funded by the same millionaires, has no Ohio members, and has an inordinate amount of non-educators who lead it.

    But keep talking about how the fair share fee is unreasonable when even the Dispatch admits that portion of SB 5 is nothing more than partisan vindictiveness by the Republican Party.

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  9. Bytor apparently doesn't even understand the issue of fair share fees. You don't have to contribute to the political causes of the OEA under EXISTING Ohio labor law.

    But these folks are saying it's unfair that they have to compensate OEA for negotiating benefits that they enjoy as NON-MEMBERS. That's freeloading.

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  10. That's what the real issue is for the unions: if mandatory deductions go away, as they should, then the union take will decline preciptiously. My bet is that more than half the teachers will opt not to pay dues.

    Who will be the "free loaders" then?

    Further I often wonder if Modern's bread isn't smeared with civil service union butter. It would hardly be surprising. Folks with esquire after their name will do almost anything for money.

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  11. Bytor apparently doesn't even understand the issue of fair share fees.

    Actually, I understand them perfectly. What you dont understand, is the concept of the "right to work without being forced to pay a union."

    Hopefully someday, all Ohians will have the right to work for an employer without having to pay a leftist labor union as a condition of employment.

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