The National Education Association, the nation’s largest union, is squarely in Hillary Clinton’s corner. For that matter, the Democrat presidential candidate is securely in the teacher union’s pocket.
Mrs. Clinton says, if elected, she’ll fight “union-busting governors” and “hostile legislatures.” All of which is bad news for the estimated 55 percent of teachers who consider themselves to be “conservative” or “tend to be conservative,” as Richard Berman, president of a public affairs firm in Washington, D.C., pointed out in a commentary for The Washington Times.
If those teachers work in the 26 right-to-work states, they can dump their unions and dues without fear of losing their jobs. Elsewhere, such as in Pennsylvania, they can opt out paying the portion of their dues that funds political causes — provided they jump through the requisite hoops.
The sad thing is, “hundreds of thousands” of union members are unaware of their options, Mr. Berman points out.
It’s unlikely that federal legislation supporting workers, such as the Employee Rights Act, will gain much traction under a Clinton administration that’s beholden to the NEA. Ditto for state legislation under Gov. Tom Wolf. But that does not negate union members’ option, their obligation, to opt out of funding the NEA’s leftist agenda when it conflicts with their own ideology.
___
(c)2016 The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)
Visit The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) at www.triblive.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
—-
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.
Recent Comments