One Union Too Many

In the wake of Labor Day, there might be at least one union we want to bid farewell to.

The California Teachers Association (CTA) does little to protect its most vulnerable members, former CTA member Rebecca Friedrichs averred in an appearance at the Heritage Foundation last month. Friedrichs is currently a fellow at the State Policy Network.

When novice teachers get laid off under the “last in, first out” rules that the unions pressed for, the CTA does nothing more than show these unemployed teachers how to file for unemployment benefits. Moreover, the smallest portion of the union dues that are extracted from the paychecks of California teachers stay locally; “Fifty percent goes to the state, 30 percent to the national headquarters, only 20 percent stays local.”

Moreover, even those proportions are more likely to go to political campaigns than collective bargaining efforts. When Friedrichs sued the CTA in a case that went all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court, “unions admitted in arguments that all collective bargaining money is political,” she recalled.

Moreover, although by law employees can get reimbursed for that portion of their dues that do not go toward collective bargaining, the teachers’ unions make it hard to do so.