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1) Is NEA Following the Path of the
Industrial Unions? The National Education
Association has always been an outlier in the world of organized labor. A
member of neither the AFL-CIO nor Change to Win, the union experienced
consistent and substantial growth during the same decades industrial union
membership was disintegrating.
The last couple of years have provided
the first opportunity to observe NEA's actions during a period of declining
membership. It appears the teachers' union is following the AFL-CIO model
for remaining relevant despite dwindling numbers - accelerated political
action.
One of the constant internal battles in
the labor movement has been over organizing vs. political action. Do you
devote resources to growing membership in order to increase political clout,
or do you increase political contributions in order to establish a friendly
organizing environment? Although there have been fits and starts in both
directions, overall the latter choice prevailed.
The failure to move card check
legislation, and the general dissatisfaction with the Obama administration
and other Democratic politicians have caused unionists to question the party
politics approach. But in relative terms, it's a lot easier and more
cost-effective to influence a handful of legislators than hundreds of
thousands of employees.
Many have suggested that the Wisconsin
protests of early this year and the California "state of emergency" protests
were the harbinger of a new wave of union activism and organizing, but both
quickly devolved to the usual litigation/lobbying/election campaign strategy
that is standard operating procedure. Other states are following suit.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association
may spend a record amount on lobbying this year. The
Boston Herald reports, "In the
first six months of the year, the union spent $893,000 on lobbying, just a
few thousand dollars shy of what they spent during all of 2010. The union is
also on pace to easily top the record $1.3 million they spent in 2009."
The Record
reports that the New Jersey Education Association sends PAC money to the
national NEA PAC, which can then, if it chooses, funnel it back into the
state through various independent expenditure groups, thereby circumventing
state regulations. NJEA has already sent
$164,539 to NEA this year.
And, thanks
to its
special assessment, the Ohio Education Association delivered $5 million
to the campaign to overturn SB 5. OEA's executive director chairs the
effort, with the union's president also on the campaign's executive
committee.
Teachers'
unions will have to slide a very long way to reach the diminished levels of
the industrial unions, but as long as they have cash to spend, they are a
force to be reckoned with in the political arena. Opponents underestimate
this at their own peril.
2) Last Week's Intercepts.
EIA's blog,
Intercepts, covered these topics from August 16-22:
*
WEAC Lays Off 42 Employees. Only a membership catastrophe could cause
such a move, but
only one source is willing to quantify how bad it is.
*
Waiting for More WEACtion. WEAC's staff union has been unusually silent
in the wake of unprecedented layoffs.
* WEAC
President: Layoffs Are "An Adjustment." When you do it, it's criminal.
When we do it, it's "an adjustment to circumstances."
* Survival
of the Fitted. California will soon need actual mattress police.
* Hooray
for Idaho Falls! Small city learns the benefits of smallness.
*
Sacré Bleu! What you might find in an equestrian center.
3)
Quote of the Week.
"The kumbaya feeling you get watching union leaders sit on panels with
reformers and calmly discuss their joint mission to do what's best for
children fades when you read the over-the-top lawsuits they have filed to
block reforms, or when you cull through their financial records or their
campaign finance filings and see how they continue to sponsor the
politicians who take the most hard line anti-reform positions and punish
those who stray and support even the mild reforms that they claim to
support." - Steven Brill.
(August 21
Reuters) |
