Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining

Washington Post’s Breaking News …

On July 28, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

The Washington Post just issued an email news alert to their subscribers. Did a national leader die? Did war breakout? Did a natural disaster occur?

No. The breaking news was that the District of Columbia had fired 241 teachers for poor performance.

DC School Chancellor Michelle Rhee rocked the educational establishment by in the words of the Washington Post “for the first time, holds some educators accountable for student growth on standardized test scores.”

“Every child in a District of Columbia public school has a right to a highly effective teacher — in every classroom, of every school, of every neighborhood, of every ward, in this City,” Rhee said.

The Washington Teacher’s Union will, of course, be contesting the firings even though they agreed to the process as part of the last contract negotiations — which raised their pay by 21%!

Posted in: Government Grants to Unions, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining

Oregon Under Teacher Union’s Thumb

On July 15, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

The Oregon teacher’s union, using their forced unionism privileges, spent a remarkable amount of money fighting educational reform. ”. . .the nation’s two large teachers’ unions and their state affiliates contributed $357 per teacher to elections,” making it the biggest spending teacher’s union in the nation. The union bosses pumped over $10 million into efforts battling three initiatives including one that would tie pay raises to classroom performance.

Posted in: Forced-Dues for Politics, NEA and Affiliates, Oregon, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees

Teacher’s Union Bailout Stuffed Into Troop Spending Bill

On July 15, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

After unsuccessfully trying to spend $23 billion for a teacher’s union bailout, Nancy Pelosi and her big labor allies in Congress have attached a smaller bailout – $10 billion – to a war spending bill to pay for our troops in Afghanistan Putting pork barrel bailout money in a war spending bill is an insult to our troops.

Tagged with: Teacher Unions
Posted in: Big Labor Ethics, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Union boss power

Big Labor Plays with Fire

On July 12, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix makes the case against the nationalization of labor laws to give police and fire unions monopoly bargaining power. The House leadership has attached the monopoly bargaining provision to the war funding bill and it now heads to the Senate.

Posted in: Exclusive Representation, Forced Dues, National Right to Work Committee, Police/Fire Monopoly Bargaining, Police/Firefighters/EMTs, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees

It’s a Trend – Big Labor Government Monopoly is Big Trouble

On July 12, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

The liberal media in the Northeast is dominated by The New York Times, The Boston Globe and the Washington Post. In a period of two weeks, all three have published articles critical of big labor’s power and influence over the political process. The latest is a Washington Post editorial bemoaning the power and influence of the teacher’s unions in Montgomery, Maryland. Fact is the article could be written in most counties in the United States but it’s progress, none the less. If they really wanted reform, they would endorse a National Right to Work law.

In Montgomery County, teachers union has a grip on politics

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, candidates for public office who have received the teachers union’s endorsement ahead of this fall’s Democratic primaries must feel as if they’ve won the lottery. The union, with the help of highly unusual cash “contributions” from some of its anointed candidates, sends out glossy, targeted mailings on their behalf. It places advertisements and yard signs. And it distributes thousands of its “Apple Ballots,” listing endorsed candidates, to voters at polling stations on Election Day.

Now the teachers union, known as the Montgomery County Education Association, is going a step further: It’s organizing a poll and inviting its favorite candidates to append their own questions. If the trend continues, union-backed office-seekers won’t have to bother campaigning at all, or even leaving the house. The MCEA will take care of everything. (more…)

Posted in: Forced-Dues for Politics, Maryland, National Right to Work Act, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees

‘Big Labor Picked the Wrong Guy to Bully’

On July 12, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

ROTC Instructor Wins Small Victory Over Teacher Union Bosses

(Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)

According to the most recent available federal data, there are roughly 73,000 public elementary and secondary schoolteachers in Massachusetts.

Reportedly, more than 99% of these educators must allow the agents of a single teacher union to negotiate with their employer over matters of pay, benefits and working conditions if they wish to continue working at a public school.

And the vast majority of Bay State teachers under union monopoly bargaining are also compelled to fork over dues or fees to their “exclusive” union bargaining agent, or be fired.

However, as they recently demonstrated, top bosses of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA/NEA) union and its affiliates aren’t content with extracting forced union dues and fees from the vast majority of teachers in the state.

The fact that even one teacher is working in a public school without paying tribute is enough to set them off.

For 14 years, retired U.S. Marine Maj. Stephen Godin has vexed the bosses of the MTA-affiliated Education Association of Worcester (EAW) union by serving as a junior ROTC instructor at North High School without paying them for the privilege. (more…)

Tagged with: Cheryl DelSignore • Massachusetts Teachers Association • Matthew Leen • Richard Tisei • Stephen Godin
Posted in: Big Labor Ethics, Forced Dues, Intimidation Tactics, NRTWC Newsletter, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees, Union boss power

When Big Labor plays with fire, taxpayers get burned

On July 9, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

Empire State pupils enrolled in K-12 public schools fell by more than 121,000 over the last 10 years, schools added 14,746 teachers and 8,655 non-teaching professionals to their payrolls

NRTW President Mark Mix commentary in the Washington Examiner:

July 8, 2010 Near midnight last Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow forced unionism apologists in the U.S. House of Representatives disgracefully amended a “must-pass” war funding bill to include language that is designed to force police officers, firefighters, and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) into “exclusive” union bargaining in every state in the country.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that policies expanding public sector monopoly unionism have played a major role in driving many states to the verge of insolvency. (more…)

Tagged with: AFSCME • AFT • Barry Hirsch • David Macpherson • Gerry McEntee • Huffington Post • Mark Mix • NEA • Public Employees • Washington Examiner
Posted in: AFSCME, Economics, Forced Dues, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, Intimidation Tactics, Legislation, National Right to Work Committee, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees, Union boss power

Waiting for Superman — Should You Hold Your Breath?

On June 15, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

The most powerful force for failure and the status quo in education today are the teacher union officials who use their monopoly bargaining power to thwart even the simplest reform in the government school system. Things are so bad that the liberal producer of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth has produced a movie about America’s education system and Big Labor’s efforts to stymie reform. It’s called Waiting for Superman. This awaited movie comes on top of another pro-reform documentary “The Lottery.”

Tagged with: AFT • AlGore • Education • movie • NEA • Public Employees • public-sector union • reform • The Lottery • video • Waiting for Superman
Posted in: Big Labor Ethics, Economic Impact of Unionization, Economics, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, NEA and Affiliates, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees, Union boss power

Primary Voters Rebuke Issue-Dodging Republican

On June 14, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

Senate candidate Trey Grayson (facing forward) refused to oppose legislation promoting union monopoly bargaining over public employees. He thus reinforced voter concerns that he was a Big Government Republican. Credit: AP

(Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)

Refusal to Respond to Right to Work Survey ‘Raised Concerns’

Just a few months ago, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson was widely considered the favorite to win the GOP nomination this year for the U.S. Senate seat now held by pro-Right to Work Republican Jim Bunning, who is retiring after two terms.

A number of pundits contended that the strong support of Mitch McConnell, Kentucky’s senior U.S. senator and the head of the GOP minority in the upper chamber of Congress, would practically guarantee Mr. Grayson’s nomination.

However, the Grayson campaign made serious misjudgments during the final weeks before Kentucky’s May 18 primaries.

Most important to pro-Right to Work Kentuckians, Mr. Grayson refused to pledge to oppose several of the top power grabs now being advanced on Capitol Hill by Organized Labor, the #1 pro-Big Government special-interest group in America today.

More broadly, many voters who were deeply concerned about the rapid growth in federal spending under the George W. Bush Administration as well as under the current one became convinced Mr. Grayson lacked the intestinal fortitude to fight to reduce spending from its current stratospheric level.

‘Any Genuine Opponent of Big Government Would Eagerly Oppose’ Police/Fire Scheme (more…)

Tagged with: Dale Kildee • Harry Reid • Trey Grayson
Posted in: Card Check, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, Legislation, NLRB, NRTWC Newsletter, Police/Fire Monopoly Bargaining, Police/Firefighters/EMTs, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining

‘Too Bad For Recently Hired, Talented Teachers’

On June 7, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

(Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)

Union Bigwigs Make Sure Public School Layoffs Are ‘Quality-Blind’

In recent years, forced dues-funded teacher union lobbyists and union negotiators played a major role in convincing public officials to increase the number of instructional employees at K-12 public schools at a blistering clip.

Nationwide, the number of K-12 public school instructional employees (full-time equivalent) grew roughly 3.5 times as much as the number of school-aged children (15.9% vs. 4.5%) from 1998 to 2007.

This spring, Gaylene Hayden was one of just six Indiana K-12 public school teachers to be recognized for their "outstanding service." Teacher union boss-perpetuated seniority rules have since cost her her job. (Fox 59 News, Bloomington, Ind.)

Since an estimated 65% of U.S. public schoolteachers are under union monopoly bargaining, and more than 40% are forced to pay union dues or fees as a job condition, K-12 employment growth that far outpaces the growth of America’s five to 17-year-old population represents a huge windfall for Big Labor.

However, in the wake of the severe 2008-2009 recession, many strapped states now have no choice but to pare back a small portion of the K-12 instructional staff increases of the previous decade.

Hoosier Teachers Recognized For ‘Outstanding Service,’ Then Laid Off

When school officials have the power to restrict layoffs to employees they have identified as the least effective, then occasional recession-related reductions in force of 5–10% are not necessarily detrimental to student achievement, according to education experts like Stanford University’s Eric Hanushek. (more…)

Tagged with: Bloomington • Eric Hanushek • Gaylene Hayden • Indiana • ISTA • Jackie Macal • NRTWC Newsletter • Public Employees • public-sector union • schoolteachers • Teresa Meredith • Tim Daly • Tippecanoe
Posted in: Economic Impact of Unionization, Exclusive Representation, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, Indiana, Legislation, Monopoly Bargaining, NRTWC Newsletter, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees

Washington Post’s Breaking News …

Oregon Under Teacher Union’s Thumb

Teacher’s Union Bailout Stuffed Into Troop Spending Bill

Big Labor Plays with Fire

It’s a Trend – Big Labor Government Monopoly is Big Trouble

When Big Labor plays with fire, taxpayers get burned

Waiting for Superman — Should You Hold Your Breath?

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