Proposed bill targets and devalues teacher union services
01/20/2014
A bill authored by Sen Carlin Yoder (R - Middlebury) targets the effectiveness of Association members’ ability to organize and collectively bargain.
SB 190, scheduled for a hearing this Wednesday at 9:00a in Senate Pensions & Labor committee, specifically targets teacher association members and the exclusive representative by requiring that non-members be eligible:
- to discuss issues that are otherwise strictly bargainable issues between the school employer and the exclusive representative; and
- to vote on the proposed collective bargaining agreement
Non-members choose to be non-members and through that choice they do get to benefit in the results of the bargained contract.
However, it is the dues-paying members who have spent their time and energy and, yes, money, necessary to engage, lead, and participate in the process of bargaining these matters.
There will always be some individuals who are not interested in the work of the Association and therefore don’t join. Their decision not to join is a voluntary one. But with that decision comes consequences. SB 190 is the official proposal to remove the consequences.
SB 190 is purely an attempt to further dilute the authority of teachers unions and is a direct intrusion on the balance of the bargaining process.
Members are urged to contact the members of the Senate Pensions and Labor committee to defeat this unnecessary, unfair, and imbalanced bill—designed to devalue not only the work of your Association itself but also the work of your colleagues who take seriously their work on your behalf as the exclusive representative.