You gotta love the ironic sense of humor in this --unless you're getting your marching orders from the thought police over at the labor union hall.

http://thatgayconservative.blogspot.com/20...inton-home.html

first of all.. unless your last name is Rockefeller, Ford or Vanderbilt, the fact that you can receive a decent living wage is due to the work of unions in past years.

From what I can deduce, you're not from any of those families as is evident in your compositions. You better thank the unions for standing up to what was tantamount to unbearable conditions and pay scales so tha people like you can afford computers to surf the net on.

and I get my "marching orders" from no one. But still I find very little to recommend in your posting.

Yes, ung, the unions did do a lot up to the midpoint of the last century to raise the standard of living, working conditions and the quality of the economy in general for all. But then they got arrogant and corrupt, and now need reform, espcially in the civil service and education sectors. In many cases, their demands grew so exorbitant that they closed down plants, thereby cutting off their noses to spite their faces. And what their management has done politically, diverting dues more towards political ends than job-related ones, also bears correction, as it should have been by the Supreme Court's Beck decision. Simply put, union members have a right to know where their dues are being spent and to withhold that portion of them that goes beyond legitimate, job-related functions and strays into politics. California's "Paycheck Protection" ballot initiative in November should make that perfectly clear - which is why the Cal. Teachers' Union just mortgaged their union HQ building to fight it.

Here's my own union story: Like SCOTUS-nominee Roberts, and at roughly the same time and in the same region,I worked Summers in the steel mills to pay for college. My first day on the job - night actually; I worked straight midnights - I was repeatedly approached by the "Shop Steward" and told to work SLOWER because my fellow Summer hires and I were highlighting the laziness of the career millhands. This was in 1971, just about the time when unions were beginning to really lord it over management. Later that Summer, a vending machine in the mill broke open and its coin box spilled out. I cleaned it up and turned the money in to the foreman, who thanked me. What happened next was doubly-telling: the foreman put a letter of recommendation in my file for doing what I considered the natural thing to do - and the shop steward came over and berated me for not giving the money to HIM to distribute among the shift(y)-hands!

One of Michael Moore's earlier movies, done when he applied his great sense of sarcasm more evenly, has a great scene of a union meeting and "election" that really shows it like it is.

I agree with you. That unions have abused their power many times and there are numerous examples of corruption and corrupt officials.

But you can not make a blanket statement that all union activities are abuses of power, that all unions are corrupt, that unions serve no function whatsoever. despite what happened to you in your steel mill experience.

Let me give you my own personal story.

When we first arrived in the States, my family were used to living a life of privilege in Korea. My grandfather is still held up as a historical figure by the government.

My father was a professor and a research physician. But when we came to the states, he had difficulty initially receiving the proper credentials, certifications. So... he being how he is, he decided he would get a job, any job. so he worked in a factory for a bit.

The factory tried to take advantage of him and his unfamiliarity with a new country, new language and new laws by getting him to work off the clock (not getting paid), to work overtime for reg wages, to do work he was not supposed to do. The union stepped in and corrected the situation.

I will always see unions as a way to redress abuses on the part of management. Even as my family and I are now far removed from working in factories and worrying about management, I will respect unions and the work that have done and continue to do.

sort of a parallel (but completely off topic... forgive me) The people who started the gay rights movement were the drag queens. They couldn't hide in the closet behind fake marriages and fake girlfriends because they were not able to do so. So they were the most visible gay people out there demanding gay rights.

If they had not been so brave, we would not be enjoying gay cable networks, gay shows, and certainly a good many of the "straight acting proud queers" would be in the closet and visiting tea rooms.

Are there drag queens that I find embarassing? You bet! But I'll never be one of these "normal gays" who wish the drag queens would just go away.

Sorry again. I know that was way off topic. But I think you see what I'm trying to say.

I think that if you look at the number comparisons for 'civil service and education sectors' you will find that their pay and benefits are among the lowest in the US compared to any given industry when you take into account Training and Education requirements.

While they generally do receive slightly more vacation time and holidays than the average worker in other industries does. This is offset by abysmal starting salaries, Low pay throughout their careers, and in general public contempt for the work they do.

The average teacher in NYS for example can get a job with just a Bachelors degree, provided they get a Masters within 3 years. No Masters, No permanent position. This is also true in VT and the vast majority of the other states now.

Thus, you are required to invest a minimum of 6 years and $60 – 80K just to get a job.

NYS will need to fill more than 135,000 teaching positions by 2010, compared to previous projections of 80k to 100k over the next decade. New York is hemorrhaging teachers,

A Survey was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the NYS Legislature, among 6390 teachers age 50 and over with at least 20 years experience, and 6020 teachers age 30 or younger with no more than five years experience.
The poll of senior teachers reveals that nearly three-quarters are likely to retire in the next five years. That finding - bolstered by a recent survey by the United Federation of Teachers and a report by the New York City Board of Education - means about 85,000 teacher retirements in the next five years.
The survey of new teachers found that nearly one-third are likely to leave their jobs - at least 18,000 new teachers over the next five years. However, the actual number is expected to be about 35,000 when projections are factored in from a report that includes new and mid-career teachers.
Adding to the crisis: 15,000 teachers will be needed to meet federal and state initiatives to reduce class sizes.
Salaries are a key factor in new-teacher flight. According to the surveys, two-thirds of new teachers statewide - and 92 percent in New York City - are dissatisfied with their pay. More than half the veteran teachers believe they are not paid fairly for the work they do, with the number climbing to 86 percent in New York City.
"Salaries for teachers have not kept pace with what other professionals with master's degrees and similar levels of experience are earning," – NYS Governors Office (A Republican BTW).
New York City teaching salaries begin at $39,000 (NYS Avg $44,850), compared to a mean average of $64,700 for other professions requiring two year degrees and public licensure.

When it comes to education reform, especially in American cities, no issue is more important than getting good teachers into the classroom.

Why is this proving so hard? In New York City, the Board of Education believes one of every seven teachers it now employs is incompetent, unable to pass basic teaching tests of in subject knowledge. The New York Post points out that, looking only at teachers who actually teach in the classroom, the number is closer to one out of five. Meanwhile older teachers are retiring in droves and teacher training programs appear unable to produce consistent quality.

Nor does tenure and longevity increases teacher salaries compared with outside industries. A teacher with 20 years of experience makes less than ½ what their industrial mainstream counterpart makes according to the US Department of Education.

Further NYS has some of the highest teaching salaries in the country. In the last decade, 4 state legislatures have ‘taken over’ their local school boards and mandated minimum school taxes and teacher salaries. One state had average starting teacher salaries of $14, 900 per year; Below the federal poverty level!

In VT where I live, Teacher salaries are well below NYS levels. Worse, a substitute teacher with the same credentials only makes $50 per day at one local school district. You can make more than that working at the local Barnes and Noble.

I am all for getting competent teachers into our schools – but you get what you pay for, and the American people are woefully under funding education at every level.

The only way to attract decent teachers and keep them in the classroom is to provide them with a competitive wage.

My mother was a teacher. Over the years she had students assault her, throw objects, smash school property, etc. She regularly had knives pulled on her. A counselor friend of hers was shot with a hunting bow and arrow that a student smuggled into the school. Two others were held at knifepoint, one was shot and permanently crippled. She had handguns pulled on her on a number of occasions, despite the wishes of her entire family, she did not finally retire until 1993 when a student pulled a loaded UZI on her because she gave him a detention.

Throughout her career she put up with buildings that were 80 to 120 years old and never remodeled; textbooks that were 30 years out of date(One set of textbooks was frrom the 1920's); chaotic orders from a school board whose average age was 72, and a superintendent of schools that changed 7 times in the last 5 years she worked. Throughout it all she had to put up with irate and abusive parents and a public who constantly told her she was ‘highly overpaid’.

How many of her kids, watching this, do you think had the inclination to become school teachers?

Before you go complaining about ‘needed reform, especially in the civil service and education sectors’ think about who or what you want to replace these highly educated, over regulated, hard working, under paid people with.

Rob