Teachers advocates for poor in Seattle fight with politicians
The Seattle teachers are on strike. Before you get all huffy puffy about unions because it’s the popular thing to do. Don’t forget the 36 Reasons Why You Should Thank a Union.
- Weekends
- All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks
- Paid Vacation
- FMLA
- Sick Leave
- Social Security
- Minimum Wage
- Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Employer Discrimination)
- 8-Hour Work Day
- Overtime Pay
- Child Labor Laws
- Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
- 40 Hour Work Week
- Worker’s Compensation (Worker’s Comp)
- Unemployment Insurance
- Pensions
- Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations
- Employer Health Care Insurance
- Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees
- Wrongful Termination Laws
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
- Whistleblower Protection Laws
- Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits Employer from using a lie detector test on an employee)
- Veteran’s Employment and Training Services (VETS)
- Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises)
- Sexual Harassment Laws
- Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Holiday Pay
- Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance
- Privacy Rights
- Pregnancy and Parental Leave
- Military Leave
- The Right to Strike
- Public Education for Children
- Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work)
- Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States
A quick personal perspective on unions: I didn’t realize it at the time, but the University of Texas at Austin was a worse deal for my budget because I wasn’t unionized. I didn’t know any better until I moved to California State and my health insurance went from costing me about $400 a month to free. You can do the math on the yearly savings. Also, everyone received a raise during my first year at California State, that hadn’t happened in about six years at UT Austin. Do I think unions are perfect? I discussed this at Edweek in Teacher Unions and the Future.
In Seattle, the teachers are striking. (This is the same state where the Supreme Court recently outlawed public money going to charter schools. Wow.) The strike is really about resources for schools in Seattle. The South Seattle Emerald writes,
Seattle Public Schools teachers haven’t had a cost of living adjustment in six years — and in that time, rents in Seattle have gone up about 40% in some places, meaning our educators are actively making less money than they were a few years ago, to do the same important job.
However, the strike is mostly about poverty,
So yes, they are asking for a raise. But they’re also asking for a lot more, and on behalf of a lot of other people. And it’s those additional demands that could have a huge impact on the cycle of poverty in some of Seattle’s lowest-income schools…They’re the trusted adults that kids turn to when their homes are chaotic. They’re the professionals who can identify and address Teachers advocates for poor in Seattle fight with politicians | Cloaking Inequity:
