Posted on 02/05/2013 9:11:26 AM PST by MichCapCon
The Berkley Education Association is considering a collective bargaining agreement that would run through June 30, 2022 that would prevent its members from having the right to opt out of the union.
The teachers' union has proposed a 9-year "agency fee agreement" that would give the school district the power to deduct dues from the union member's salary. If deducting dues were to be deemed unlawful, the union member could be fired. And if it were unlawful for the union member to be fired, a clause in the contract would allow the union the right “to pursue any other lawful remedies.”
Locking in the contract change before March 27 would prevent union members from benefiting from the state's new right-to-work law, which gives workers the right to not pay dues or fees as a condition of employment.
The Berkley Education Association isn't the first union to try a 9-year contract extension that would skirt the state's right-to-work laws that allows employees the choice as to whether to join a union. The Western Michigan University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (WMU-AAUP) also is considering a similar contract provision.
"Many school boards have been subservient to the unions for so long, we can expect them to pull out all stops to prevent change," said Leon Drolet, chair of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance. "This is further evidence that school boards don't negotiate with teacher unions, they collude with them. Winning with the legislature doesn't end the fight for change. There are some school boards who are willing to be the last Japanese soldier on the last island fighting World War II."
Michigan Capitol Confidential received a draft of the memo that a law firm was asked to review by an Oakland Schools official. The law firm confirmed they reviewed the proposed agreement.
Berkley School Board President Paul Ellison didn’t respond to a request for comment. School Board Vice President Randy Travis referred comment to the school district spokeswoman.
Berkley School District Spokeswoman Jessica Stilger said in an email: "The Berkley School District administration has an excellent relationship with all bargaining units, and will continue to do so with right-to-work legislation. At the moment, the BEA has presented administration with many proposals and all will be considered. However, union negotiations are ongoing and confidential."
Patrick Wright, senior legal analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, called the tactic legally "questionable."
"If 9-year collective bargaining agreements were such a good idea, why haven't they been done before?" Wright said.
If we ever get in control again all teacher unions should be outlawed. And added no tenure, any teacher can be fired.
An extension of what I said about unions having control of school boards.
That would be a huge hurdle legally as far as singling out teachers. You might get an essential services clause through for Police and Fire and EMS but it would be a hard stretch to outlaw a teachers union "ONLY". Though you might be able make an argument legally that ANYONE who is employed buy the Government at any level be prohibited from being in a union being the employer is an entity run by people who get elected. (You show their boss has bias to give them what they want in return for votes for the boss to remain in office.)
I taught in the university-level system my entire life and never did think tenure was a good idea. Typically, I had between 125-150 students/semester in my econ classes. One tenured History prof had 3 courses with a TOTAL of 11 students. His faculty evaluations were horrible, the administration wanted to get rid of him, and even though they gave him horrible teaching hours (e.g., 7:30AM, 1 PM, and 5:30PM), he would not quit. While the idea that tenure allows profs the right to voice their opinion openly, if you’re a good teacher you can do that in the absence of tenure. With a union, you are doomed to the fate of the average union member...no better, no worse. Crappy teachers in High Schools persist just like they do in universities. With 14b, at least they have to perform or they can lose their job.
Personally I’d like to make them independent contractors.
Great teachers could write their own tickets and good teachers would aspire to become great teachers. Bad teachers can work at McDonalds.
They brought that Idea over from Prussia in the early 1900's.
That was the point of Hilarys book "Its takes a village (to raise an idiot)"
Have the children raised by the state, as such it goes back to our original conversation regarding Billy Ayers and Lenin's Quote.
Because, in most non-corrupt communities, the RICO statutes would kick in...
Government union members are seen by their relatives (our business, academic and political leaders) as being superior to members of private sector unions (mostly busted decades ago).
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