Randi and Lily, For the Good of Our Unions, Please Step Down. You Are a Distraction
Dear Randi Weingarten and Lily Eskelsen Garcia:
Unions are facing hard times.
We are under attack by the new fascist wing of the Republican party.
So-called “right to work” laws are being drafted at the national level to strip us of our rights and transform us into the factory slaves of The Gilded Age. New court challenges at the state and federal level could make it next to impossible to collect dues without allowing countless free riders. And in the mass media criticism of teacher tenure mounts despite widespread ignorance of what it even means.
More than ever we need to be united in our efforts to fight the forces of regression and tyranny. We need each other to protect our public schools and our students from those who would do them harm. But the biggest obstacle to doing that isn’t Donald Trump. Nor is it Mike Pence, Steve Bannon or even Betsy DeVos.
It is you. Both of you.
Frankly, as Presidents of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), you have become a distraction.
When DeVos was blocked by protesters from entering a Washington, D.C., school this week, Randi actually took her side. She tweeted:
“Just heard a protester blocked & almost knocked Secy @BetsyDeVos down at Jefferson.We don’t condone such acts.We want her to go to pub schls.”
How dare you dictate to protesters what “we” want!?
This action may not have been something you, personally, condone. But DeVos just got away with purchasing her position as U.S. Education Secretary. She and her billionaire family paid off mostly Republican lawmakers to the tune of $200 million Randi and Lily, For the Good of Our Unions, Please Step Down. You Are a Distraction | gadflyonthewallblog: