Saturday, January 20, 2018

AFT FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN JANUS CASE

The American Federation of Teachers put out a press release announcing that the Union has filed an Amicus brief in the case of Janus vs AFSCME.

For those living in a cave (far too many public employees fit this category I fear) who have not been following developments, this is the case that looks to make union dues optional in the public sector. The argument from Mark Janus is that agency fees for non-union members violate free speech rights of public employees who do not join a union. Janus contends that everything a union does with a government employer is political so forcing public sector workers to pay fair share fees is a violation of First Amendment free speech rights.

The argument from the defense is that since all employees benefit from the collective bargaining unions do, everyone has to pay for collective bargaining. No free riders.

Here is what AFT President Randi Weingarten said in the AFT press release:

“The fight for prosperity and opportunity for all, embodied by the labor movement, is an anathema to the corporate backers of this case—the people funding it are the same people attacking civil rights, attacking voting rights and attacking public education.
“This case warps and weaponizes the First Amendment by enabling one person’s complaint—without any record or evidence—to undermine the interests of millions of workers across the country who benefit from collective bargaining. And it suggests that collective bargaining, which operates just like any other workplace consultation process, should draw far more constitutional scrutiny than its equivalents.
“The current law has preserved labor peace for four decades by balancing the interests of workers and employers and fostering partnerships to improve school districts and other public sector workplaces. We argue that engaging in collective bargaining is constitutionally no different than the state paying a consultant to advise it on employment relations issues. Further, the plaintiff’s argument is a dishonest rejection of established legal precedent, reaffirmed many times, and therefore must fail.
“I am confident that if the nine justices of the Supreme Court consider this case on the merits, not ideologically, they would agree.”
Unfortunately Randi, I think most of us would agree that five of those nine justices (John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Neal Gorsuch) will consider the case on ideological grounds and will bend the constitutional reasoning to fit their right wing point of view. I fully expect the unions to lose the case and what happens after that depends on how the decision is written and what the reaction is.
If you want to know why so few union members are shedding tears over the probable loss in this case, read this part of Randi's statement very closely, "The current law has preserved labor peace for four decades by balancing the interests of workers and employers and fostering partnerships to improve school districts and other public sector workplaces." She's kind of arguing something we all know: that we are company unions. Those partnerships she talks about are dominated by management. See NYC teachers for evidence.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about the uft helping with fake grades, grade scams, 97% grad rates where the students cant read, being harrassed thru jupiter grades...

Anonymous said...

The real anathema to our union is the fake leadership of Randi Weingarten and Mike Mulgrew.
They have sold us out. They have been wined and dined by Bill Gates. They have been taken in by the charm offensive of Michael Bloomberg. The pro-charter faction of the democratic party has taken hold of their greedy imaginations. Who's their daddies? Michael Bloonberg, Bill Gates, Barack Obama.... How stupid can a UFT member be? ......

They are stooges for the Plutocrats. Take your UFT dues and run with it. DO NOT enable your
bad relationship with the UFT

Anonymous said...

There are 2 types of teachers at my school: 1) Old, pissed off teachers that are planning on not paying dues once they can. 2) Younger, clueless teachers who will not pay dues once they can. Old teachers are are gonna pull dues out of justified anger at the UFT. The younger teachers will pull dues because they dob't care about the UFT and want to keep the money for more yoga classes and salt lamps.

Anonymous said...

Why I wont be paying UFT dues:

A dear friend and colleague got breast cancer, she had three small kids under 10, she died and lost her 50k in retro! Fuck the UFT for that!

My brother is a garbageman, no education, and has worked 5 fewer years than me...he makes 40k more than me!

My next door neighbor is a policeman, just an officer, he has worked 4 years less than me, minimal education, he makes 50k more than me!

Unions will be fine, the UFT is dead!

Anonymous said...

We gave finals this week. Students, on extremely simply tests, were cheered like they were geniuses for getting 35 out of 50 correct. Thats a 70. A C minus. Thats because almost everybody failed. And this is a school with one of those fake grad rates, looked at as a highly successful school. Everybody passses, everybody on honor roll. Writing level looks like 1st grade. This is high school.

Anonymous said...

Sound the death march for the UFT. It’s done and everyone knows it. Compare the number of teachers that drop out to the police, sanitation, firemen, etc. The UFT knows how much it is hated.

Anonymous said...

If you don't pay, are you still a "member"? Or at least, will you get the same "protections" that a member will get? Say I stop paying and get brought up on charges. Will the UFT provide a lawyer and help protect me?

Anonymous said...

If Weingarten and Mulgrew want to do something positive that may get many teachers to remain in the UFT - they should both resign. They are reasons 1 and 2 many will be opting out.

Anonymous said...

Only valuable thing the UFT "provides" is a lawyer for 3020a hearings. However, I know 3 teachers brought up on charges and none of them even bothered using a union lawyer. They went with using a private one instead. The UFT needs to implode and something needs to start up from scratch. I'll take my chances and money elsewhere come next year.

Anonymous said...

The UFT is making it very easy to target ATRs by refusing to enforce the contract. By refusing to file grievances that are legally legitimate. By creating the ATR pool. By agreeing to field supervisors that are only there to go after veteran teachers. By not allowing a chapter for ATR's. By making us third class citizens. Which per diem subs are being observed by field assassins? By eliminating seniority. By agreeing to fair student funding. By destroying thousands of teachers careers. By agreeing to rotation in a vocation that is built on relationships. By refusing to respond when we are vilified in the press. By telling us that we are lucky to have a job and benefits. By refusing representation in any situation that they should be helping. By theft and denial of services. I can also mention racketeering. They colluded with the DOE to not only create the ATR pool but to assist in the psychological warfare that they the Human Resources enforcement arm of the DOE.
The UFT had sold us out at every turn. The truth is that because of NYS civil service laws they can't have us fired . So all you can possibly say about the UFT is that they pupport to represent our interests and take our money for it. They just hurt us terribly. There is a special place in hell for these sociopathic parasites. I eagerly wait for JANUS. I'm going to keep my money. They need to be starved.

Anonymous said...

The UFT borough office of Queens is a disgrace. They will side with corrupt a Principals before they defend a good veteran teacher.

Anonymous said...

Just offer a FAIR buyout, its better for everybody, city may save millions per teacher on salary, med and pension...And I want out, nowhere near retirement.

Jeff said...

Agreed. I make 100k, i would be willing to leave now, get no pension for 20 years, and then a tiny one at that point, and lose my medical. With that said, i already earned retro, which i would lose. 50k plus retro plus a small yearly sum...or 50k plus start paying my tiny pension now. Still makes the city look like bandits longterm

Anonymous said...

If the UFT and other unions stayed neutral and kept their political noses clean, this case would never have came up. Remember the UFT cozying up to the parade of horribles aka "Occupy Wall Street"? That was the last straw for me.

11:01 is right- Weingarten and Mulgrews resignation will save 20% of the membership from walking, myself included.

James Eterno said...

We went from Cogen, to Shanker, to Feldman to Weingarten to Mulgrew. The UFT got worse with each new president although you can argue that Shanker's first few years were an exception to this trend. What makes you think that Mulgrew's successor, who will almost definitely come from the same Unity Caucus machine as all of the rest, will be any better? No evidence at all for that.

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew and Wingarten resignations and a UFT constitution/ bylaws restructured based on democratic principles.
The current UFT is structured as a Stalinesque burlesque satire, a odd milquetoast to the plutocrats.
The UFT is a laughingstock as a trade union. Indeed a laughingstock for the ages.
Mulgrew plays the starring role of buffoon extraordinaire.

James Eterno said...

The resignations alone would mean very little. A real restructuring might help but is it too little, too late? Do the average teachers realize how the "Stalinesque burlesque satire" is structured to keep the status quo forever?

Anonymous said...

Received a contract negotiations survey from my chapter in the UFT. Did teachers receive such a survey to be filled out? The UFT wants to get member input. Has such survey ever been sent out in the past?

Anonymous said...

No, as if it mattered. Im 37 and quitting in june

Anonymous said...

I dont know why this is even discussed, there is a zero percent chance of improvement, its been proven

James Eterno said...

There has always been a contract survey before every contract. It is manipulative to say we all want a raise as our first priority. My guess is it will come out the same way now. I haven't seen it yet.

Anonymous said...

I still haven’t heard one person, in my school, say they would stop their union dues. (I think most of the people saying this are not teachers.) In fact, most people with 10 or more years in my school have been stated that it would be stupid to not pay.

James Eterno said...

So you don't believe the people here are really teachers?

Anonymous said...

16th year teacher, wont pay dues. Will take buyout if offered.

Anonymous said...

18 year teacher. I have not decided if I am going to stop paying dues. My choice will be made once the new contract comes out. If it is a shitty contract, then bye bye dues. (And I am not talking about wanting a big raise) I want improvements to my day to day working conditions such as gutting the 4 observations, etc.