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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2006-02-28

Leave It To The Teachers Union . . .

to jump ON to a sinking ship.

The USA's largest teachers union and the AFL-CIO announced a partnership Monday that could both improve teachers' bargaining power and help the labor federation regain some of the clout it lost when several unions defected last year.

The 2.8-million-member National Education Association will allow local affiliates to join the AFL-CIO. The hope is that the AFL-CIO will give teachers more muscle when they campaign for political candidates and push legislation.

Teachers. . . .the American Federation of Laborers . . . teachers . . . labor. . . .

Mind you, I find teaching to be excruciatingly laborious work, but it hardly meets the old-fashioned definition of back-breaking, dirty, sweaty work. And as if the teachers' unions needed more muscle on a local level.

But wait, it gets better:

"This is about two organizations coming together to meet the needs of working families," NEA president Reg Weaver said . . .

The partnership comes as the AFL-CIO, a federation of more than 50 unions representing 9 million workers, prepares for its first election cycle since about a half-dozen unions, representing more than a fourth of its members, split from the federation in July, complaining that it emphasized political campaigns over organizing.

So just in case you were wondering if "Reg" was being completely candid about that working families thing: note that the union joins the federation in the wake of other groups leaving because of the political efforts.

Of course, this has nothing at all to do with working families, or the needs of the members; it has everything in the world to do with the symbiotic interests of the two unions, whose political interests trump any interest they might have in protecting their people.
Posted by: Michael / 2/28/2006 12:47:00 AM

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