When Unions Get Desperate
April 15 | Posted by mrossol | EconomicsWhen Unions Get Desperate – WSJ.com.
By ALLYSIA FINLEY
There haven’t been any major earthquakes or wildfires in California recently, but teachers apparently think that the potential budget cuts to education merit a “State of Emergency Week.”
The California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, is planning a week of activities in May. The goal is to pressure Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the state legislature to raise taxes rather than cut education spending.
Earlier this week the union posted a 10-page list of potential activities on its website, CAstateofemergency.com. Ideas included stalking legislators for a day; boycotting corporations like Microsoft that advocate for education reform; attempting to close down major roads; dying their hair red; holding night-time vigils with coffins and black arm-bands; picketing companies; and withdrawing funds from banks that “are not paying their fair share of taxes.” They also planned to work with Ben & Jerry’s to create a “labor-union flavored ice cream.”
Apparently, the union didn’t realize that documents posted to the Internet are available for public consumption. Once the CTA heard that the list was bouncing around blogs, it was removed. Soon, a new three-page list appeared that omits many of their more ludicrous and heavy-handed ideas but still includes plans to use students as props. Instead of bullying and boycotting businesses, the union now intends to meet with local chambers of commerce and to “focus [their protests] on how much money has gone to bail out Wall Street and big corporations.”
CTA had hoped to persuade state legislators to put a $12.5 billion extension of tax hikes on the June ballot to help close a $26 billion deficit. The ballot measure required a two-thirds vote of the state legislature and the support of at least four Republicans. Negotiations between Mr. Brown and Republicans over the ballot measure broke down late last month.
The union has since shifted its focus to convincing Democrats to raise taxes without approval from voters or Republicans. Although the state constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature to raise taxes, unions have suggested that Democrats should risk litigation and increase taxes without Republican support. The only other options for Democrats are to resume talks with Republicans or to close the budget deficit with spending cuts. Unions don’t want to do the former and won’t stand for the latter. That means they’ll have to convince Mr. Brown that their interests supersede law and democracy.
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