Teachers, other unions, drive in reverse
In America, we focus on staying in drive.
Moving forward feels like it brings us closer to progress and greater prosperity.
But the current economy is difficult precisely because it feels like we're doing the opposite of what we want. These days, few are getting ahead, many are falling behind, and the best case, often, is to be stuck in neutral.
Union contracts graphically illustrate the point. Gone are new deals that call for increases in workers' salaries and benefits. The object today is to hold ground or mitigate the loss.
Teachers contracts offer an example.
Local school districts have had to cut $352 million from their budgets this year. Hundreds of teachers have lost their jobs. The California Teachers Association says that local teachers have seen their benefits reduced and agreed to slightly more than six furlough days on a temporary basis. For a teacher earning $60,000, those furlough days translate to about $1,944 out of pocket.
And that came after tense negotiations in many districts.
"It's been quite a shift," explains Michael Stone, who serves on the board for the California
