A question for DU's educators: why didn't you join your union?

[Robb]

First of all, I understand some of you did/are/were, and I thank you. But it appears many of you did not.

A recent http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=513291&mesg_id=513291">"check-in" sort of poll tallied about a dozen DUers who were now, or had at some point been, a member of NEA or AFT. The two largest unions in the country, and a dozen or so members on DU.

Now, certainly, it's possible there are uncounted once-or-currently-unionized teachers here, who simply missed the poll -- or who belong or belonged to a local that wasn't part of the national body. But I think it's just as likely there are many teachers here who chose not to join their union.

I say this, because it turns out it took Mrs. Robb 9 years to join AFT. When I discovered this, my jaw rather hit the floor, and I pressed her on the reasons. Mostly, she had been convinced by friends and colleagues of the old "all they do is take your dues" business -- this was many years ago -- and it wasn't until her peers pressured her into joining that she really began to understand the benefits of union membership. She came around, but it took her nearly a decade.

I'd like to hear from DU's population of educators -- same reasons? Different ones? Has your experience in teaching been that the culture is generally supportive of unions?

...And those of you who did join, how many years were under your belt before you signed on?

[LWolf]

1. I joined my local union the day I signed my first contract. nt

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. As a building rep...

...I'll share my experience -- 70% the money, 30% principled objection to the union, or unions in general -- some Galtian superheroes who think they'd get a better job going mano-a-mano with the school board, some hard-core Republicans, some people that had a unionized employer be mean to them once.

[phantom power]

3. I've been developing a sort of unified theory based on "victim-of-its-own-success"

Unions have become the victim of their own success. Current generations do not really grok what businesses will do to them if they are allowed free reign. Nobody remembers that stuff like weekends, 40-hr-week, etc, came into existence because of collective bargaining.

Government has become the victim of its own success. Recent generations have grown up with effective govt, and do not have any direct experience with what it means to have a disfunctional govt.

Vaccines are the victim of their own success. Nobody remembers what it was like to live in mortal fear of your children being killed or maimed by polio, smallpox, measels, etc.

Education has become the victim of its own success. Nobody remembers what it was like when only rich people could afford a good education (or any education at all), to watch your children become slave labor because you were slave labor, and couldn't afford to educate your kids.

But we're about to re-discover it.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. Good point. :) n/t

[Robb]

7. I like this.

I am partial to theories of everything, however. :hi:

[DrDan]

4. speaking for my wife - she did join - primarily for the liability protection

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. It's telling me I can't vote because I'm not registered

Since I've been here 7 years, that's some kind of fluke, and is probably due to the recent outage.

Also may explain the poll numbers.

[Robb]

8. The poll is archived. (nt)

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. I never voted in it

This is the first time I've seen it.

[Robb]

12. I assume you're a union member.

...Did you join as soon as you started teaching? What was the environment like, in terms of whether there was support for the union in the workplace in general, and among other teachers?

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. I signed up the first day I worked

My employer had lost my application, forcing me to submit a new one. In those days, the application for a teaching position was about 15 pages and it had to be handwritten. No typing allowed. So I was not a happy camper before I even began working to earn the meager paycheck.

Within a month, they had lost my teaching certificate, and a parent had threatened to kill me. It was Christmas before I was paid correctly on the correct day.

About 80% of our teachers are in the union. The others benefit from the working conditions the union bargains for. Most claim they can't afford to join. But as soon as they have a problem, many will sign up.

[damntexdem]

9. Texas State Employees Union -- affiliated with the Communication Workers of America.

When I was at Cal State Long Beach, I was a member of the AFT and represented by it in collective bargaining.

When at UC San Francisco, I was an activist in the AFSCME local and worked in the successful effort to gain representation for the largest job categories (which didn't include my own).

[madfloridian]

11. I never saw that poll. I belonged to my unions, all of them.

From the day I started teaching. NEA, FEA, and my local.