|
1) Another Staff Strike in the Cards
for Oregon Education Association? No overt threats
of a strike yet, but the professional employees of the Oregon Education
Association have been working without a contract for almost five months, and
there is bad blood in the recent past between labor and management.
You may recall the staff went on a
three-week strike three years ago (see item #2 in the
October 6, 2008 EIA Communiqué). Accusations of rollbacks and
greed were exchanged by both sides until NEA national headquarters got
involved and a tentative agreement was reached. I've posted that agreement
on the
EIA Declassified page. A one-year agreement was reached on the
expiration of that contract, and now the staff is looking for assurances
that they won't bear the brunt of OEA's planned budget cuts.
The employees want to see reductions
through attrition and not layoffs, while management proposes cutting UniServ
positions and reorganizing the remainder. Staffers also claim that OEA wants
to raise the retirement age and cut dependent health benefits for retirees.
Considering the external threats
teachers' unions face these days, neither side is eager to wage a civil war.
However, lobbying the legislature or ad campaigns won't take care of these
problems. Unions face the same economic conditions that cause labor strife
in general, and they are not immune internally.
2) Last Week's Intercepts.
EIA's blog,
Intercepts, covered these topics from November 8-14:
*
Big Win for Unions in Ohio. Our Evil Overlords fail to ante up once
again.
* Newspaper
Corrects NYSUT Salary Story; Still Not Right. Simple tales are best when
the facts are simple.
*
Occupy School Boards? Mike Petrilli seeks to fill his inbox.
*
District and Union Collaborate… on Zombie Apocalypse. Better outcome
than
Night of the Living Ed.
*
Honor the Fallen by Educating Their Children. Consider giving to the
Special Operations Warrior Foundation.
3) Scheduling Note.
The next issue of the communiqué will appear on Tuesday, November 22.
4)
Quote of the Week.
"Americans will respond when they see us as a watchdog for their interests
and not a lap dog for a party." - Andrew Stern, former president of the
Service Employees International Union, discussing labor unions. (November 11
WNYC Radio - New York) |
