Ohio teachers, on strike for a week now, get some help from their Marxist allies; more details emerge about AFSCME’s new contract with Illinois; and Massachusetts’ newest liberal senator, Elizabeth Warren, leads a witness pitching the case for a minimum wage hike–to $22 per hour.
These are a few of the stories in today’s Union Briefs…
Progressive groups from outside the Strongsville City School District have poured in to the Cleveland suburb to show “solidarity” with the Strongsville Education Association (SEA) as the public union strike enters its third week. The teacher strike – prompted by district requests for teachers to pay more towards their insurance premiums and to accept a pay raise in place of a current pension pickup – is the state’s first in years.
SEA recently resumed its earlier practice of holding protests outside the homes of school board members, who the union claims are pushing an “anti-teacher, anti-public education agenda.”
The more you know about the recent contract between the state and Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the less there is to like. While the final contract itself remains out of public view, a description put together by AFSCME for its members reveals troubling details.
Where the rubber meets the road…
The new contract gives workers a 6 percent increase spread over four years. None of the annual wage increases is more than 2 percent in a given year. Titan will add about 300 workers to increase the output of tires in the near future, Taylor said.
“I believe the Steelworkers have a better understanding today on how Titan needs to use its unionized work force for the benefit of its employees as well as shareholders. Without profit, there are no jobs,” Taylor said.
Bigger doesn’t always mean better…
One of the largest labor unions in the U.S. will get a bit larger on Thursday, when the 1.5-million strong American Federation of Teachers enters into a new affiliation with the National Federation of Nurses union.
The Oregon Nurses Association today approved an affiliation agreement with the American Federation of Teachers, bringing more than 10,400 Oregon registered nurses into the 1.5 million-member union of educators and government and health care employees.
Relatedly (and ironically)…
A little late now…
ICYMI:
House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil Roe (R-TN) has introduced legislation that would require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to cease activity until the legal issues involving the current board have been settled.
On the other hand…
These have been your Union Briefs for Tuesday, March 19th.
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“Truth isn’t mean. It’s truth.”
Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)
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