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1) Why NEA Supports AT&T Merger With
T-Mobile. At Politico, reporter Eliza
Krigman investigated the curious circumstances surrounding the support of
prominent liberal groups for the multi-billion-dollar telecom merger
between AT&T and T-Mobile. She learned that many of them received
contributions from AT&T last year - a discovery that garnered Krigman kudos
from the
Columbia Journalism Review, which chided the Washington Post
for burying the lede in its merger story.
But in the case of at least one of these
liberal groups the story is being told backwards. Last Tuesday, National
Education Association president Dennis Van Roekel
issued a statement in support of the merger, saying, "Good
news for business is not always good news for consumers, but this merger
represents a win for everyone. The merger will expand access to high-speed
wireless Internet service and help narrow the digital divide."
Krigman noted that the
NEA Foundation received $75,000 from AT&T last year, suggesting the
donation may have influenced Van Roekel. A photo
caption with the story reads, "AT&T says it does not support nonprofit
groups out of any expectation of quid pro quo."
While it is never a good
idea for an organization to spit in the eye of someone who gives it money,
the idea that NEA would sell out for $75,000 is a bit silly. The union took
in $367 million last year. It spent $35,000 on coffee. Why would it risk its
reputation for such a small sum?
The answer is: It wouldn't. So what is
this about? There are two reasons why NEA would support AT&T in its
acquisition. One is hinted at in Van Roekel's statement:
"We also hope union detractors will take note
- AT&T partners with its employees to maintain a productive pro-worker
environment that results in success for the corporation and good jobs for
workers and support for students."
Translating that from
unionista into English, it means AT&T has 35 union contracts with 58 percent
of its employees represented by a union. The corporation claims to have "more
full-time bargained-for jobs than any other private company in America."
T-Mobile is - surprise!
-
mostly non-union. The prospect of bringing tens of thousands of
private-sector workers under the union banner is reason enough for NEA
support.
But there is another
reason. As you might have noticed, NEA and its affiliates are having some
political difficulties these days. Securing a powerful corporate ally would
be highly advantageous in the lobbying and campaign battles to come - even
if just to deny support to the other side. The quid pro quo is not NEA
issuing a statement in exchange for $75,000 - it is AT&T standing in NEA's
corner on teacher collective bargaining, school funding, and other issues on
the union agenda in exchange for NEA's merger support.
2) Last Week's Intercepts.
EIA's blog,
Intercepts, covered these topics from June 7-13:
*
Hundreds of NEA-AFT Affiliates Lose Tax-Exempt Status. I tried to help.
*
Indiana State Teachers Association Reaches Settlement With Investment Firm.
But not out of the woods.
* Public
Employee Unions vs. Democratic Governors – Part 93. Strange
non-bedfellows.
* Someone
Please Send Me Video of This. Kinder, gentler mugging.
*
What Do You Know? The answer for too many Americans is: not much.
3)
Quote of the Week.
"In fact, the unequal treatment of professors by their unions has come to
resemble the plot of George Orwell's dystopian novel
Animal Farm... Nowhere is this better
illustrated than in Washington state, where part-time faculty members at
community colleges have been forced into the same unions with full-time
faculty members in state affiliates of the National Education Association or
the American Federation of Teachers. At all 34 community and technical
colleges, these unions have bargained completely separate but unequal wages,
job security, and working conditions for their 3,800 full-timers and 9,700
part-timers." - Keith Hoeller and Jack Longmate, advocates for adjunct
faculty. (June 12
Chronicle of Higher Education) |
