Nearly all state teachers unions without pact seek recertification [The ...
As work styles have changed throughout the years, more taxpayers have started working from home. With the help of modern technology, having a home office has become more practical and efficient. The concept of working from home affects many facets of an individual\' s life, such as commuting time, travel expense, and, of course, tax issues. . "It very clearly shows that the teachers are not giving up on their unions at this point."Another 268 local teacher unions -- 63 percent, which is more than previous estimates -- did not have to decide about recertification this year because their contracts continued through this school year. Among those with contracts are unions in 10 of the 11 largest school districts in the state.
Many of the districts continue to collect union dues from employees with contracts, though some negotiated changes to end that practice.
, which reported 119 of its members have contracts this year; the list of WERC recertification filings, which came from 144 districts without teacher contracts; and a survey of the remaining 161 out of 424 school districts.
The survey found 149 additional districts have teacher contracts. In the 12 that don't, the teacher unions did not seek recertification. The survey did not inquire about school unions that represent support staff and other employees.
Previously it was unclear exactly how many teacher unions are operating under contracts this year.
Most districts with teacher contracts extended them for one year last spring because of the uncertainty during the debate over the state's new collective bargaining law, said Miles Turner said she was surprised by how many local units filed to recertify given the obstacles.
"Their commitment to the union is very clear," Bell said. "That's why you see those numbers."
WEAC previously announced it would be laying off 42 employees, or about 40 percent of its staff, this fall because of an expected reduction in revenue.
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Almost all districts with contracts negotiated concessions that increased employee contributions to pension and health insurance premiums, Turner said. Those concessions helped districts offset massive reductions in state aid and taxing authority.
Special interest unions trying to oust Gov. Walker and repeal Act 10
As expected, the Wisconsin Education Association Council quickly issued a press release, endorsing the effort to remove the governor from office. But it’s obvious that the teachers union wants to do more than change governors. WEAC officials want to overturn Act 10 and re-assert their dominance over Wisconsin public education. When tough economic times arrived, school boards across the state were forced to make choices. They could cut union labor costs, which typically take up at least 70 percent of their total budgets (a product of collective bargaining), or lay off younger teachers with little union seniority and eliminate academic and extracurricular offerings for students. They insisted on maintaining perks like automatic, annual salary increases for all teachers, regardless of performance; free or low-cost health insurance; reimbursement for unused sick and personal days; full pay and benefits for union presidents who never teach; seniority and retirement bonuses; and special stipends for every extra duty under the sun, including lunchroom monitoring and having a few extra kids in their classrooms. In 2008, the Milwaukee school board attempted to save approximately $786,000 (the cost of employing as many as a dozen first-year teachers) by cutting health insurance coverage for Viagra . The union filed a complaint with the Equal Rights Division , then two years later filed a lawsuit, claiming the decision was discriminatory toward male employees. Earlier this year the Milwaukee school board asked the union to alter its contract so members could pay 5.8 percent of their salaries toward their retirement pensions. The employee contribution would have saved the district a crucial $20 million. The union refused to consider the idea, and nearly 400 teacher layoffs were announced.