Teacher Unions Use Shady Tactics
Here is the case of Michigan Education Association (the teacher union) working hard to retain its members who now have the right to opt-out resulting from Right To Work Legislation. Rather sneaky tactics have been employed — only one month (Aug) allowed for opting-out, address changes where letters must be received by due date, etc. http://www.mackinac.org/21632
Though not unique in its behavior as a militant, adversarial teacher union, here, from their handbook on Crisis Planning is how they counsel members as they prepare for strikes:
“The Heart of an Effective Crisis Campaign
“In terms of a bargaining message, the public responds most positively when we talk about children, quality in the classroom and the future.
“Here are some messages that have been successfully used . . .
- Our working conditions are your child’s learning conditions.
- It’s not about dollars and cents; it’s about our children.
- School employees support your children. Please support your school’s employees.
“Consider these questions when making decisions about community PR:
- Does it create urgency to act so that children and their education won’t suffer?
- Does it disrupt normalcy and destroy the mood that everything in the district is fine?
“Consider guiding principles as you plan crisis activities:
- The threat of action is usually more powerful than the action itself.
- Pick a target — personalize — and polarize the opposition.
I call these “shady” tactics, but apparently they’re normal procedure.
Our public education systems across the world are vulnerable to capture by vested interests — for economic, ideological & dominance purposes. They are neither under civilian control nor well served by governments too eager to appease for the sake of labor peace.
Reform efforts are piecemeal and efforts like right-to-work legislation have little benefit to children’s futures in their lifetimes. The only promising far-reaching move is for governments to direct earmarked education dollars directly to the consumer as Education Savings Accounts do. This is a movement that has already gained 5 adopting US states and eager interest in a good number more. Canada needs to seriously talk about this model.