Posts tagged Randi Weingarten
Unions make gains in Colorado
February 22, 2023 // On January 31, 2023, a proposed bill entitled “Public Employees’ Workplace Protection” (SB23-111) that would give public unions more power and influence in the workplace. The sponsors are State Senator Robert Rodriguez (D) and State Representative Steven Woodrow (D). The legislation would impact public employees such as county or municipal workers, general assembly staffers, school district employees, higher education employees, public defenders’ officers, University of Colorado and Denver hospital authorities, fire authorities, and members of board of cooperative services. Multiple unions have already endorsed the bill. The Communications Workers of America 7799 (CWA), which is affiliated with AFL-CIO and represents public defenders, education employees, healthcare employees, and library workers, said the bill would protect workers from retaliation from employers.
Temple withdraws free tuition for grad students on strike and gives them until March 9 to pay
February 10, 2023 // The move comes amid the second week of a strike by the Temple University Graduate Student Association, which represents about 750 members, although Temple maintains that more than 80% of graduate student teaching and research assistants are continuing to work. That would mean fewer than 150 students are on strike.
Perspective: National teachers’ unions aren’t on your side
January 17, 2023 //
Former teachers union official accused of violating ethics pledge
December 12, 2022 // The Biden Administration Ethics Pledge specifically bans political appointees from communicating with their former employer in official communications, such as emails, but Harris-Aikens “was in regular contact with officials at the NEA from virtually her first moment at the Department.” Protect the Public’s Trust discovered this information from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which uncovered direct, official communications between Harris-Aikens, the NEA, and American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
Biden mends bridges with unions after rail dispute
December 12, 2022 // President Joe Biden has returned to the good graces of labor unions by announcing a $36 billion pension fund bailout that will prevent more than 350,000 truck drivers, warehouse workers, construction staff, and retirees from forfeiting their benefits. But Biden's intervention comes after he rankled the key Democratic constituency by urging Congress to enforce a tentative union dispute agreement between railroad companies and their employees in order to avoid a strike that would have crippled the economy before the holidays.
Opinion: Hunter Tower: Teachers’ unions deserve no ‘amnesty’ for exploiting Covid fears
November 8, 2022 // “There’s no way that you’re going to have full-time schools for all the kids and all the teachers the way we used to have it,” Weingarten actually said in July 2020. A month later, when the American Academy of Pediatrics encouraged schools to reopen for classes in fall 2020, Weingarten opposed then-U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ efforts to reopen schools.
Teachers union spends $1M on Michigan governor’s race
November 2, 2022 // Yet the MEA, along with its parent organization, the National Education Association, is heavily funding Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s reelection campaign, as well as some Michigan school board races. The NEA is spending $1 million in Whitmer’s favor. The MEA is also endorsing nearly 200 candidates in local school board races and giving more than $1,000 each to many candidates across the state. This amount goes a long way in local school board elections. The NEA and MEA are supporting candidates who will back the status quo. The Washington Examiner reported April 7 that the NEA spent $66 million on political activities and another $117 million on political contributions, gifts, and grants for the 2020-21 reporting cycle. MEA’s total spending for 2022 is not yet available.
Op-ed: Nothing Does More to Weaken Unions Than Union Leaders
November 2, 2022 // In 2018, before the Janus decision affirmed that teachers can refuse to support their unions’ radical politics, the CTA boasted 310,000 members. Today that number stands at 280,000 — a loss of more than 30,000 members and $36 million a year in lost dues revenue — much of which would have gone into campaign coffers to buy elected officials who would serve Big Labor’s interests.
Teachers’ union head silent over latest US test scores showing troubling decline in math, reading
October 25, 2022 // The head of the most prominent teachers' union remained silent on Monday after new national test scores showed troubling declines in math and reading among U.S. students. The COVID-19 pandemic’s toll on the learning of kids was further evident in the latest national test scores, which saw the largest decreases ever in math, while reading scores dropped to levels not seen since 1992 for fourth and eighth graders across the country, according to the Nation’s Report Card.
Union Takes Credit For Biden Forgiving Unlimited Student Loans For Teachers — One Teacher Wrote Off $450,000
September 12, 2022 // In a Labor Day message, union president Randi Weingarten said the union’s lobbying — which was also a leading cause of keeping schools closed due to coronavirus — was also responsible for the giveaway, which largely benefited the union’s members. The union played a role in helping elect Joe Biden. “We worked directly with the Biden administration on the latest PSLF fixes and the recent game-changing announcement on student debt cancellation.