Daily Koz: Why I won't teach without my union

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/6/92533/84470/820/680572

by Mrs W
Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 06:25:33 AM PST

(Note: “Mr. Tom Smith” is a pseudonym for a teacher whose last wish in education was to retire and never think of the events related below ever again).

It came as a shock when two of my female students came to talk to me about Mr. Smith. In tears, they told me that Mr. Smith kept rubbing their shoulders and touching their legs. He had handed one of the girls her backpack, his arm rubbing against her breast. I knew Mr. Smith as a kind man. He was a little too huggy for my comfort, true, but he seemed to honestly care for all of his students. Nonetheless, my duty was clear and I reported the incidents the girls told me. The next day, Mr. Smith was gone from school. It would be nearly six months before any of us saw him again.

* Mrs W's diary :: ::
*

The girls seemed ecstatic the day Mr. Smith disappeared, and no wonder, considering what they had told me! The teachers treated the girls gently, understanding that they might be fearful of another attack from a teacher. We told them they had done the right thing, telling a trusted adult about what had happened to them. And then, five months after Mr. Smith left our ranks in disgrace, a revelation. Another student came forward, one who told an entirely different story. The girls had bragged to him about how they got Mr. Smith fired. He had apparently given them a failing grade on an essay they had copied off the internet. So, they made up a story about how he had touched their legs and butts and breasts.

When the story came out, it didn't take long for the girls to confess. They had made up everything. They knew that Mr. Smith hugged his students and thought we'd believe that he'd taken the touching too far. Mr. Smith had been suspended from teaching for five months because of a lie.

The girls were suspended from school for only a week.

Teachers don't make a lot of money, certainly not enough to keep an attorney on retainer for six months! How did Tom do it? The union. Part of our dues assures teachers the right to an attorney if they risk getting fired for any reason. Sometimes the teacher deserves to be fired. Sometimes, they don't. The union makes sure that we are represented fairly.

The union does a lot of other things for us as well. Labor laws require that employees receive a 10 minute break for every 4 hours they work, and a half-hour lunch if they work at least 5 hours in the state of Washington. However, professionals such as doctors and teachers are exempt from that law due to the nature of their jobs (in the event of emergency, my first priority is my students, my second priority is myself). This means that, without union intervention, my school is not required to give me any breaks or lunches. Substitute teachers, who don't have union coverage, frequently get neither.

The union negotiates new contracts for teachers every 3-5 years. This doesn't necessarily mean that teachers always get a raise. Three years ago, our union negotiated no raises because the district had to build a new school and didn't have money to spare. However, they promised a raise three years later to thank us for our patience and understanding. When the three years passed and they refused to offer a raise again, the union helped us organize a strike and helped the community understand our grievances. When teacher contracts are broken, the union helps mediate so that the aggrieved party – be it a teacher or the school district - is compensated fairly.

FULL story at link.

[bookman]

1. Sadly..

..in my teaching career I've know similar stories.

The union was the only way a teacher could be represented. You're right about the cost of lawyers otherwise.

And when teachers dared asked for money they lost the "respect" that use to substitute for a decent salary.