> One of Fitch's laws of American unionism: they don't
> care about the workers, they care about dues. He
> doesn't pay dues. Fuck him.
As far as my knowledge of the NEA goes, it is actually one of the more "rank-and-file" run unions out there -- and in a bad way. By this, I mean that it inevitably ends up bending to the most backward and myopic rank-and-file members because the leadership is not interested in actually leading people in a progressive or visionary direction. My guess, then, is that the local is not defending this guy because the other teachers dislike him; who knows, maybe he's a gadfly and a jerk and the other teachers resent him because they are dues-paying union members while he pays a "fair-share fee" (and reseting this guy is an understandable emotion if you're a union person, though workers should face reality in this case and defend him against the administration).
Of course it's stupid that they're not defending this guy -- and possibly illegal, since if the union represents the bargaining unit they're obligated to represent him even if he's not a member. It should be an easy call, the union defends the guy as it should, and in the process says to him, "Stop being an asshole and sign a fucking card." But how many high school teachers do you know who are ready to go to bat for the principle of academic freedom, especially if they don't have a union leadership that has a visionary approach to doing that?
All of that said, Doug, you're increasingly sounding like a right-wing crank. The fact is that neither this guy nor anyone else who works as a teacher in that district should even have the OPTION of not being a union member. By not paying dues -- or in this case by paying only fair-share fees, since Colorado is not a right-to-work-for-less state -- he is scabbing on everyone else. Obviously the union should defend him when he's under attack by the administration and thereby win him to the union side. But from the way you talk, you sound like you probably favor making Colorado a right-to-work state. Do you? This is not an idle question; I'm being serious.
- - - - - - - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories