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And for Andrew Bulkema, a Michigan teacher with a decade of teaching experience, it is worth every penny to be free from the mandatory political monolith that the teachers union has become for liberal causes. For Bulkema, the compulsory dues in direct support of candidates and causes he could not agree with, especially President Obama, was the last straw.
Teachers are usually attracted to the union system for the health insurance. Once sucked in, they are sold a bill of goods about how the unions are a necessity for both the benefit of the students and the teachers, because after all, with better pay comes better teachers, right? And only the coercive power of the unions can guarantee better pay, right? Wrong on all counts.
If it was the case that money cured all education ills, then the District of Columbia would be the best educational system on the planet. Instead, it has been choked almost to death by unions, chasing good teachers away, killing innovation, creativity, ambition and enthusiasm at its source -- the teacher -- while rewarding longevity over excellence.
And we wonder why other nations are kicking our educational tail feathers across the globe? Because there aren't more Andrew Bulkemas in the world with the courage to stand up and say "Enough!" and fight for their God-given rights to freedom.
It is easier to go with the flow, not cause a kerfluffle and let the union thugs continue to reap the financial rewards of their vaunted positions while the children trapped in these so-called schools have less and less hope for any kind of a future in an increasingly competitive world that we are not cruelly not preparing them for.
There is a cost to making a fuss. This is what the Founding Fathers were talking about when they wrote endlessly about the cost of freedom. For Andrew Bulkema, it started with just about $544.28.
What is your freedom worth to you?
January 18, 2012 @ 6:59 pm
This is rather vague, Did it only cost him that amount to say he wasn’t joining the union or does it cost him that much a month to stay out of the union? If it costs that much to stay out, I would believe the union is extorting money and should be charged.
January 18, 2012 @ 8:08 pm
Good question, I was wondering the same.
January 18, 2012 @ 8:38 pm
The link to the story clarifies it. I would love for the unions have to explain publicly where every last ***** of dues goes and why.
“For one Michigan educator, the annual costs of “non-membership” in the local, state and national teacher unions total $544.28.”
January 19, 2012 @ 12:09 pm
This exact thing happened to me in Illinois. A couple of years before I left teaching (I had kids!), the union passed “Fair Share” and the school board approved it. I don’t know why the board did that. ”Fair Share” required every full time teacher to either join the NEA and the Illinois Education Association or else pay about $500 per year to the local school district union to pay for collective bargaining in the district. I chose option 2. My money was still forcibly taken from my paycheck by the district and sent to the local union account. I was out $500, but at least I wasn’t supporting all the **** the NEA and IEA were funding.
But, you never know. I signed a paper telling them to send my money to the local union instead – but who’s to say they didn’t have some scheme behind the scenes to make sure the money got to NEA anyway?
Isn’t there something in the Constitution about “freedom of association?” I didn’t want to “associate” with them!
January 19, 2012 @ 1:32 pm
We need a Right to Work State, and if we cannot convince the public and/or our politicans that this is just the right thing to do today, then we must legislate that any non-union dues that are paid. Must go directly toward a local non-profit funds or organization such as lunch programs for the homeless. If we remove the profitabiliy from the Unions, then they would be less likely to fight the change and progress, Vote for State Rights and the Right to Work. G-d Bless the Constitution.
January 24, 2012 @ 10:23 am
zegota, I live in a right to work state. The California law saying this is just one waste of paper. The will not enforce it. I applied for a Job at the Square D company. At the time of my interview i was informed that this is a right to work state but… If you don’t join the union we can’t hire you. I was forced to join the Teamsters. They (the shop steward) would repent me in a clear violation of my being made to do work that I was not paid for. there were two other people in the same position. I took a job in management and transferred to another division. Shortly after that the shop steward then helped the other two workers. They got their job classification changed and back pay.
As you can tell i have no love or respect for the unions. I think they all should be dissolved and many heads of unions should be investigated under the RICO Act.
I mean lets face it a strike and picket is nothing more than legal extortion. It is not only extortion against the company it is also used against customers. I know from personal experience. I have had to cross several picket lines in my life. I have been called all sorts of names that I can’t repeat here. i been spit at and on and I have had my tiers Ice picked.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! !
January 20, 2012 @ 11:16 am
How about Union members standing up to the union bosses and telling them No money goes to politicians and voting it in as Union policy at their meetings.
January 31, 2012 @ 1:10 am
I was in a union when I was young for a couple of years. Local Carpenter’s Union. They made sure everyone went through a two year apprenticeship program. They taught you how to do your job as a journeyman. We built pretty good houses then. They inspected job sites to make sure we had proper safety equipment and weren’t being forced to do dangerous stuff. They got us better pay for working on holidays and health and life insurance. They looked out for us. My state passed a right to work law about year before I joined the union. Within a couple of years the number of union job sites dwindled. Non-union workers showed up who didn’t actually know much about how to build houses. We got piece work wages which required ever more work and longer hours. We lost our healthcare and life insurance. As the prices for work dropped, less and less skilled workers took over, then illegals took their places. The pay sucked and the quality of work became atrocious. I joined the army and learned to do other stuff. Where unions are still strong, the union employees pay the price for higher wages by striking, which costs those workers money, and paying dues for collective bargaining. If someone shows up and doesn’t want to join the union, it only seems fair that they should pay something to get the high wages they are going to get because unions workers earned the rights for them. If you want to see what a non-union world is like, look at Indonesian or Chinese or South American sweatshops. You can’t even go to the bathroom without permission. I don’t want to see that happen here, so I’m pro union.
January 31, 2012 @ 10:24 am
bigt, I have worked in three unions and most did not deserve the wages. As for people not wanting to join the union they should not be forced.
I watched as teamsters purposely work slow to get over time. I warned them that if they kept it up the company would close and move operations elsewhere. That is exactly what happened. Just because you have a union it does not make the members good. All the companies I have worked for have paid for training. Not the unions. The unions don’t pay for your training the company does. If the company does not pay for training they do so at the risk of their staying in business.
I have worked for both union and non union companies. The union never paid a dime for training in my forty years of working. Every company I worked for has paid for training of one kind or another.
The last thing is paying people/teachers more just because of being in a union does not make you a better worker or teacher. No teacher should receive a raise unless they have shown to be a quality teacher who teaches. Not one who is just pushing them through to the next grade. I come from a family of teachers. They have taught and teach all grades K through 12th grade and two were College level one PHD and one with a masters. They feel the same way as I do.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! ! !