Andy Stern was the one time leader of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Diane Ravitch today is reporting on Stern joining the board of the Broad Foundation, a notoriously anti-public school anti- union organization.
Diane quotes from this piece in Splinter:
Stern developed a reputation as a business-friendly union leader, known for striking deals with companies that were often seen as too weak by many in the labor movement. Under the guise of modernization and growth, Stern seemed to lose his connection to the grassroots, radical, people-powered aspects of the union world. In 2010, The Nation quoted one union leader as saying, “Andy Stern leaves pretty much without a friend in the labor movement.”
Diane then writes about other labor leaders who are left to work against their former constituents:
George Parker was president of the Washington, D.C., teachers union at the time when Michelle Rhee became chancellor and started her famous campaign to crack down on teachers. At the end of his term in 2011, he teamed up with Rhee and spoke out against the same issues he had once championed. He went to work for Rhee’s Students First and joined her campaign for charters, vouchers, merit pay, and test-based evaluation. Now he works with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Paul Toner was vice-president, then president of the Massachusetts Teachers Union from 2006 to 2014. After his term ended, he joined the “reform” movement, as a Pahara-Aspen Institute Fellow, a graduate of the Broad Academy, and currently executive director of the Gates-funded Teach Plus, which is generally pro-testing and anti-union (its CEO is John B. King Jr. and its board includes DFER favorite, former Congressman George Miller).
Diane's conclusion:
Everyone has a right to change his or her mind. I did it myself. Still, I was not the leader of an organization; I was an individual who said, “I was wrong.” I admit that I don’t entirely understand how someone goes from being the president of a labor union to opposing the people they previously represented.
I usually agree with just about everything Diane writes. Here, I can clarify that it isn't that difficult to understand why union leaders switch sides. There are labor leaders who are careerists and becoming the president of a union gets a leader some power and money. It can be intoxicating and there are lucrative job opportunities available for these leaders outside of the union movement. I am not at all surprised that some succumb to these lures. Power, more so than representing members or a movement, is what motivates them.
The UFT-NYSUT-AFT takes care of its top level people financially so there really isn't a need to jump ship to cash in but would anybody be surprised if one of our union leaders takes a well paying gig that is anti-union after leaving union work? Former NYSUT Executive VP Alan Lubin is an exception but he kept getting money from the union after he left to start his own company.
10 comments:
Ravitch is correct. Well, at least he’s still not on the union’s payroll, while secretly working for deformers like that skank bitch Randi, that’s always up for auction to the highest bidder.
Being part of the establishment is what Randi enjoys. We are mere pawns. If we had guts, we would declare independence from the AFT and NYSUT. They charge a lot and give little in return.
I pledge allegiance to the Dollar, the United Federation of Teachers. And to the Racket for which it stands, one Mob under Randi, for slavery and injustice for all.
Posting for a friend and need feedback ASAP....this is all happening AFTER she has been teaching for 5 years and was told she made tenure by her principle....she later received a letter saying she would be terminated for not having a professional license and when she submitted proof, this is the response....what should her next steps be? The union rep at her school sucks and this is urgent
Did anyone's school honor Holocaust Remembrance Day?
Good morning fellow teachers. I’ve been teaching for 14 years and don’t want to do it anymore. Anyone else retiring or having thoughts of it. If so what other options are you looking into???
Does anyone know if you can be evaluated/rated for not all students wearing the gym uniform in PE class? I got rated a developing for not all kids wearing the uniform but according to DOE policy as of last year students can NOT be graded on changing into their uniform (which we as a school do anyway) nor can they be failed for not changing into a gym uniform. My AP is new so she’s learning too.
I'm curious if any of you have dealt with colleagues having students answer the phone in their classroom? I'm not talking once because there's something going on, I'm talking everytime you call the classroom a child not only answers the phone but then refuses to give it to the teachers saying they've been instructed to take a message!
Surely I can't be alone in finding this incredibly unprofessional
Just need to vent about how horrible our insurance plan is, that is, if you have HIP. Express Script says my son’s nebulizer is medical equipment and HIP says I need to pay a Ryder to have durable medical equipment covered. Just giving thanks I can afford to pay out-of- pocket but I’m still feeling aggravated
9:35, Please call a UFT certification specialist immediately.
Post a Comment