Regarding the July 1 news article, "District to teachers: Sign or lose your job," kudos goes to Noel Zabriskie, for giving teachers the 1981 "air traffic controller's option." I've worked since I was ten years old, starting as a paperboy for the Standard-Examiner (talk about unfair labor), and I've been blessed to have employment my entire adult life. My past 22 years working in law enforcement have never been unionized. Unions make it almost easier to win the lottery than to get rid of a bad employee. I've investigated the gamut. Just one example: An employee choked out a supervisor and kept his job. The same person pulled a knife on another supervisor and still kept his job, all thanks to the union.
Unions are good for ensuring that certain private sector crafts (i.e. plumbers, builders, electricians, etc.) are performed by properly trained workers. Honestly, unions, for the most part are antiquated, because many of the conditions brought about by unions in generations past are now codified into our society under state and federal laws. There really is no legitimate purpose for any government employee to be unionized. The government has the ability to perform extensive background checks on every person they hire, and they do, so for the employee to have a union card is unnecessary.
Millions of Americans work every single day without a union contact. My employer told me what I would get paid to do my job and I had to take it or leave it. When there is no pay freeze, I get raises based on performance but I don't go out picketing and complaining to the news outlets that I have to work under unfair conditions. If I don't like it, I am free to look elsewhere.
Teachers claim they have out of pocket costs for teaching materials; therefore they need to earn more. Like teachers, I purchase many of my own work items out of my pocket, too. Teachers can, and many do, persuade students to chip in to help with classroom needs. This is an option most working Americans don't have.
Don't get me wrong, If it were not for teachers I would not be where I am today, I love and respect teachers. I just loathe crying whiners. So stop complaining, be grateful that you have a very good job and go back to work.
David Wakefield
Syracuse
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