Teachers are Terrorists and Corporate Shills
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Politicians are notorious for saying stupid, embarrassing and downright insulting and hurtful things in the quest to promote their political agendas. Michael Bloomberg’s recent comparison of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) to the National Rifle Association (NRA) ranks right up there with some of the stupidest—but here are a few other ditties (just in case you missed them):
Teachers Unions are Terrorist Organizations
In 2004, Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union, the National Education Association (NEA), a "terrorist organization" during a White House meeting with state governors.
Schools and Universities Should Be Blown Up
Since the teachers are a bunch of terrorists, it is justifiable to blow up the places where they hang. In line with this sort of thinking, right-wing education privatization cheerleader and
Labor History Timeline--The Modern Era, PATCO, Decline of Unionism
1981 PATCO Strike: U.S. federal air traffic controllers began a nationwide strike after their union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), rejected the government's final contract offer. Most of the 13,000 strikers ignored orders to go back to work and were fired on August 5 by President Reagan for participating in an illegal work stoppage. In response, the AFL-CIO organized a protest of 400,000 in
Biggest Union Vote in 70 Years?
Healthcare has continued to be one of the more profitable sectors of the economy, even during the recession. In 2009, Kaiser Permanente made $6 billion in profits (see In These Times), but still demanded concessions and layoffs, something the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) readily gave up in exchange for insignificant promises to reduce corporate interference in union organizing.
Healthcare workers who were fed up with the autocracy, corruption and wimpiness of the SEIU, (and the expulsion of Sal Roselli as head of an SEIU affiliate in 2009), created an opposition