[Vision2020] love for police

Sun Jun 24 21:46:08 PDT 2007

Greetings:

Before I address the issues of the police union 
and right-to-work-for-less, I would like to 
clarify some points that Schwaller made about my 
union (the AFT) and teachers applying for 
unemployment benefits.  The AFT is requesting 
this only on the part of what we call 
"paraprofessionals," many of whom have part-time 
or temporary status.  Our request does not at all 
apply to full-time classroom teachers.

Schwaller was also incorrect to assume that the 
AFT/IFT is the union for Idaho's K-12 
teachers.  It's Sue Hovey's IEA/NEA.  When we got 
started in 1974, the IEA was well established and 
was doing a good job of representing Idaho's 
teachers.  The AFT has its strength at the higher 
education level where we are the faculty union on all six campuses.

With declining union membership nearly 
everywhere, it is significant to note that 
between them the AFT and NEA represent 75 percent 
of the nation's teachers.  Those who say that 
unionized teachers are the reason why America's 
students do so poorly have to explain why the 
students of highly unionized teachers around the 
world do so much better than our 
students.  Instead of 16,000 different school 
districts and their lay boards, most of these 
countries have highly centralized and fully 
professional educational administration.

My understanding is that the vote for the police 
union was unanimous, so that makes the issue of 
involuntary membership a moot point.  The 
principles of representative democracy dictate 
that the party or union that wins the election 
represents everyone in the district or bargaining 
unit.  One should be required to pay taxes or union dues for services rendered.

It is my understanding, and Roger can correct me 
if I'm wrong, but every Idaho farmer has to pay 
an annual fee to his commodity group in order to 
sell his crop.  Why aren't those 
right-to-work-for-less people, funded by right 
wingers like Coors Brewery, protecting the 
Idaho's farmer's right to sell?  Go figure!

If you survey all the right-to-work states, you 
will find that without exception they have the 
lowest wages and the least protection for their workers.

Solarity forever!

Nick Gier, President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO

Sue Hovey wrote:
>When Nancy Chaney and Linda Pall voted against 
>the police request for unionization, it seemed a 
>violation of what I thought they stood for.  For 
>me, it was one of those telling acts which 
>clearly define who they are. I would probably 
>not vote for either of them again. Roger, I 
>think your memory of the events is correct. 
>(Your other posting) That's the way I remember 
>it, too. As a member of the IEA (teachers' 
>union) I worked with those who chose not to 
>join, and even though I often respected them as 
>teachers, I resented their being freeloaders 
>while the rest of us paid their way.  And more 
>than once non-members got into trouble and only 
>then came asking for membership forms.  Legally 
>we had to let them join and then defend them. We 
>also had to defend non-members if their 
>grievance fell within the guidelines of the 
>negotiated grievance procedure.  I think a 
>couple of court decisions have adjusted that 
>mandate somewhat to protect the union 
>financially. Sue H. ----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "lfalen" <lfalen at turbonet.com> To: "Tom 
>Ivie" <the_ivies3 at yahoo.com>; 
><vision2020 at moscow.com> Sent: Thursday, June 21, 
>2007 3:44 PM Subject: Re: [Vision2020] love for 
>police > My view is that anyone should be able 
>to join what ever group the want, > union or 
>otherwise. No one should be forced to join a 
>union as a condition > of employment. If 
>individual members of the police force wanted to 
>join a > union they should have been able to. 
>Those that do not want to should not > be t 
>required to do so. > > Roger > -----Original 
>message----- > From: Tom Ivie 
>the_ivies3 at yahoo.com > Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 
>14:56:06 -0700 > To: vision2020 at moscow.com > 
>Subject: [Vision2020] love for police > >> I 
>like the way everyone professes their gratitude 
>to the police now but >> not when the police 
>wanted to do something "radical" like 
>unionizing. It >> amazes me to hear some of the 
>same people say that they love the police >> 
>when they or groups they associate with actively 
>worked to squash the >> Police 
>Union. >>          To my knowledge, the police 
>donÂ’t usually ask for a lot.  I >> never hear 
>them complain. Yet, the one time they speak up 
>about something >> they do want, we shut them 
>down. Maybe the issues they wanted a union 
>for >> have been resolved, I donÂ’t 
>know. >> >>  It just strikes a nerve with me to 
>hear Â“we love them so muchÂ” out of >> one side 
>of the mouth and Â“no union for youÂ” out of the 
>other side.  They >> give and we take?  Why 
>canÂ’t they give and we give back to them.  Is 
>the >> love for the police and hate (by some) 
>for their unionization a mutually >> exclusive 
>bipartition dichotomy or a logical 
>fallacy?  Discussion? >> >> >> Tom & Liz 
>Ivie >> >> --------------------------------- >> 
>Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the 
>Internet in your pocket: mail, >> news, photos & 
>more. >> > > 
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"Truth is the summit of being; justice is the 
application of it to human affairs."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Abstract truth has no value unless it incarnates 
in human beings who represent it, by proving their readiness to die for it."
  --Mohandas Gandhi

"Modern physics has taught us that the nature of 
any system cannot be discovered by dividing it 
into its component parts and studying each part 
by itself. . . .We must keep our attention fixed 
on the whole and on the interconnection between 
the parts. The same is true of our intellectual 
life. It is impossible to make a clear cut 
between science, religion, and art. The whole is 
never equal simply to the sum of its various parts." --Max Planck

Nicholas F. Gier
Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Idaho
1037 Colt Rd., Moscow, ID 83843
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/home.htm
208-882-9212/FAX 885-8950
President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/ift.htm

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