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Greetings:<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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!<br><br>
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.<br><br>
Solarity forever!<br><br>
Nick Gier, President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO<br>
<br>
Sue Hovey wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">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@turbonet.com> To: "Tom Ivie"
<the_ivies3@yahoo.com>; <vision2020@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@yahoo.com >
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:56:06 -0700 > To: vision2020@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 “we love them so
much” out of >> one side of the mouth and “no union for you” 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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<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=2>"Truth is the summit of being; justice is the
application of it to human affairs."<br>
--Ralph Waldo Emerson<br><br>
"Abstract truth has no value unless it incarnates in human beings
who represent it, by proving their readiness to die for it."<br>
--Mohandas Gandhi<br><br>
"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." --Ma</font><font size=1>x Planck<br><br>
</font>Nicholas F. Gier<br>
Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Idaho<br>
1037 Colt Rd., Moscow, ID 83843<br>
<a href="http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/home.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/home.htm<br>
</a>208-882-9212/FAX 885-8950<br>
President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO<br>
<a href="http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/ift.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/ift.htm<br><br>
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