Most Americans Back Collective Bargaining

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 88 comments

Why do pro Union supporters believe this issue is about ridding the world of unions. It's about being fair to the rest of the population. I keep my job and receive pay increases based on merit, not based on the threat of striking and shutting down commerce. Since when did holding someone responsible for doing their job become anti-american? Unions do not belong in government services, and the argument that Unions provide a safe work environment went out the window with the far reaching powers now belonging to the Department of Labor which overseas and protects workers. Time to re-vamp the system, time for change, time to take the financial bite out of the unions, if they want to collect dues, send a bill, like any other organization and let's see how many members really want them around. Let the workers voluntarily decide to pay union dues or not - that is what america was founded on, freedom of choice.

Also, the conservatives and several of you below, talk as if we don't work for our money; like it is just handed out to us. The public sector is what keeps this country running. It provides the opertunity for the less fortunate to "climb the ladder", it saves your house and lives when fires break out across California and Texas, it protects your home from burglary and prosecutes the people who harm families and communities, yet you seem to think that our work is WORTHLESS. Our nation could not be nearly as great as it is, if not for the fact that the public sector is so strong. To say it is worth more than the private sector is wrong, but to say that it is worth any less than the private sector is taking our services for granted.

Putting aside the polls that are being over discussed here is a severe logical fallacy that I, as a public school teacher, hear far too ofter. These conservatives talk about the pension and health care plans that we "receive" free of charge on the backs of the tax payers. In reality, our pensions and health care plans come out of OUR paychecks, that WE EARN, each month, by providing a service to the parents and students who desire to get an education. Secondly, these republicans are also throwing around the word tenure incredibly loosely and improperly. Though tenure varies from state to state, it thrives of off one concept. Tenure provides teachers who EARN it through working for an extended period of time due process should they be accused of violating rules and prevents them from being arbitrarily fired. Tenure requires that there be documentation that a teacher has violated part of their contract or broken the law. The Teachers Unions, such as TEA, NEA, BCEA, etc. use collective bargaining to make sure that teachers pay is comparable to the standard of living in the area and that their benefits that they have contributed to, are not cut. The Collective Bargaining Agreements also address workers safety issues, and without these, our police officers, firefighters, teachers, postal workers, garbage workers, and all other public workers would be unable to perform their duties to the fullest of their abilities. Some other little known facts: The countries that outperform the United States in academics, have virtually no private schools, are almost completely unionized and have no federalized educational system but instead, the central government sets standards based on a broad range of curriculum as opposed to just Math and Reading. Education is NOT something that should be treated as a money making business, as it holds the valuable futures of our next generations in its hands. Privatizing it is NOT a solution, and Charter Schools are neither what they were intended to be nor do they help solve any problems with the system. Remember, these people are serving YOU, and their services must be payed for.