Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

September 9, 2013 By Fausta

Mexico: How the teachers’ union became so unpopular

Hostage-taking, gridlock-provoking, and rock-throwing were only the beginning:

Mexicans Take On the Teachers Unions Thanks to reform, teachers can no longer sell their jobs or give them to a family member.

Public disapproval also derives from the growing awareness that the teaching profession is a union racket, not a public service. Much of the credit for this awakening goes to the free press, which has been doggedly exposing corruption for more than a decade. Stories like the one in 2008 about a teachers union leader who was getting ready to award 59 brand new Hummers to top union officials have shocked the nation. Mexicans have also learned that tens of thousands of “teachers” on school payrolls are actually working as professional union activists. These full-time political operatives are trained at Mexico’s teachers’ university where they are indoctrinated in hard-left ideology and are guaranteed a job upon graduation.

The reform is only a start,

Plenty of pitfalls remain. Mexicans are still waiting for a transparency law that would force unions to make their financing public. And opponents of transparency managed to remove the requirement that teacher performance evaluations be made public. The education-advocacy nongovernmental organization Mexicanos Primero points out that this makes it “practically impossible” for citizens to verify whether the teacher is doing the job.

A first big step in the right direction.

Share

Filed Under: education, Mexico Tagged With: Fausta's blog, unions

February 7, 2012 By Fausta

No school choice, from the NJEA plutocrat

NJEA (the teacher’s union) Executive Director Vincent Giordano, who makes $550,000 a year, when asked about s
NJEA Executive Director to Poor Families: “Life’s Not Always Fair”

When questioned about the fairness of New Jersey’s low income families being financially unable to afford the option of moving their children to better performing schools, Mr. Giordano was cold, dismissive, and completely unsympathetic to their plight.

The exact quote?

“Well, you know, uh, life’s not always fair and I’m sorry about that…” (click here and listen to the clip)

Ah, that 1%…

28814
Share

Filed Under: Democrats, education, New Jersey, NJ Tagged With: Fausta's blog, NJEA, unions, Vincent Giordano

September 19, 2011 By Fausta

The AFL-CIO vs. Guatemala

Mary O’Grady reports on the AFL-CIO’s attempt to obstruct the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR):
Big Labor’s Yanqui Imperialism
The U.S. trade representative is trying to deny due process to Guatemala in defiance of free-trade agreement rules.

The action, according to the USTR, was born of an AFL-CIO petition—filed with six Guatemalan workers groups—which makes the same allegation. USTR says it, along with the Departments of Labor and State, analyzed the AFL-CIO claim and decided to pursue it because it “appeared” to be correct.

This is what they demand (emphasis added)

One of the U.S. demands is to add 100 labor inspectors to the government payroll immediately. Mr. Velásquez says that while Guatemala is willing to comply with the increase, the estimated cost, in the millions of dollars, is not in the current budget. Guatemala has said it will add the inspectors next year but that’s not good enough for Uncle Sam.

A second demand is to force all exporters to indemnify their workers against a company failure by buying a bond. Mr. Velásquez says that Guatemala’s constitutional court has said no to this because singling out exporters would be discriminatory. He also notes that U.S. exporters are under no such obligation.

Finally, and perhaps most egregiously, the U.S. wants Guatemala to give labor inspectors the authority to close a plant deemed to be in violation of the labor code. The trouble is, Mr. Velásquez points out, inspectors are not judges and the accused has the right to have the case heard in a court of law. Otherwise, he says, “we would turn our inspectors into emperors.” It is passing strange that the U.S. is trying to undermine Guatemala’s frail democracy in favor of the kinds of practices that occur in dictatorships.

More broadly, the AFL-CIO-inspired demands would raise costs for Guatemalan exporters and even drive them out of business.

Free trade? Not if the AFL-CIO has any say on it.

27434
Share

Filed Under: Guatemala, trade, USA Tagged With: Fausta's blog, unions

September 6, 2011 By Fausta

“Let’s take these son of bitches out”

Warming up for Obama’s speech yesterday, Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., incites violence,

“We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They’ve got a war, they got a war with us and there’s only going to be one winner. It’s going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We’re going to win that war,” Jimmy Hoffa said to a heavily union crowd.

“President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let’s take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong,” Hoffa added.

Not only did Jr didn’t get the memo, he would say it again.

Why not? Not only did the President refuse to condemn this violent rhetoric, when he followed Hoffa on stage, Obama said he was proud of Hoffa:

Betsy:

When it comes to accepting the call to action from a necessary interest group, civility is just not so important.

That’s fine. But let’s not have any more hypocrisy from the left jumping on whatever metaphor a Republican uses. I don’t think that James Hoffa meant anything more than a spirited call to action. If he calls Tea Partiers, “sons of bitches,” that’s his right. It’s distasteful and illustrative, but his using any more refined insults wouldn’t disguise what he really thinks. I’m not complaining about his language, but the hypocrisy of the President smilingly accepting that language while still posing as the leader of the civility chorus. Spare us the hypocrisies and let’s carry on with that battle that Hoffa was talking about.

So much for the “new civility.”

During his speech, President Obama also came up with this,

“I think putting money back in the pockets of working families is the best way to get demand rising because that then means business is hiring. That means the government — that means that the economy is growing.”

Growing?

27317
Share

Filed Under: Barack Obama, politics Tagged With: AFL-CIO, Fausta's blog, Jimmy Hoffa Jr, unemployment, unions

June 24, 2011 By Fausta

NJ Democrats cut government union benefits

New Jersey Lawmakers Approve Benefits Rollback for Work Force

New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday approved a broad rollback of benefits for 750,000 government workers and retirees, the deepest cut in state and local costs in memory, in a major victory for Gov. Chris Christie and a once-unthinkable setback for the state’s powerful public employee unions.

The Assembly passed the bill 46 to 32, as Republicans and a few Democrats defied raucous protests by thousands of people whose chants, vowing electoral revenge, shook the State House. Leaders in the State Senate said their chamber, which had already passed a slightly different version of the bill, would approve the Assembly version on Monday. Mr. Christie, a Republican, was expected to sign the measure into law quickly.

It wasn’t simply “a few” Democrats. As Tom Blumer points out,

Given that the Assembly has 47 Democrats and 33 Republicans, it took more than “a few Democrats” to get the law passed in the Assembly by the 46-32 margin indicated. If all Republicans voted “yes,” 13 Democrats, or over a quarter of the total, also had to support the bill.

Indeed, both the Senate and the Assembly are controlled by Democrats, by 60% and 59%.

The legislation will sharply increase what state and local workers must contribute for their health insurance and pensions, suspend cost-of-living increases to retirees’ pension checks, raise retirement ages and curb the unions’ contract bargaining rights. It will save local and state governments $132 billion over the next 30 years, by the administration’s estimate, and give the troubled benefit systems a sounder financial footing, mostly by shifting costs onto workers.

Workers in the private sector have been doing that forever, and paying for the government workers’, too.

Senate president Steven Sweeney, Democrat, supported the bill.

The fight over benefits reflected both Mr. Christie’s ability to exploit the divisions among Democrats, through his alliances with more conservative Democratic party bosses and legislators, and his success at using the public-sector unions as a foil in his drive to shrink government spending. It has also allowed a nationally known but highly polarizing governor to claim the mantle of bipartisan conciliation, telling audiences that New Jersey is setting an example that other states and the federal government should follow.

The bill applies to all state government workers and

to a much larger number of county, town and school district workers, because most local governments participate in the state-run pension and health care systems.

Stacy and Jazz are amazed that the people of New Jersey may even be understanding the state’s dire fiscal situation.

Who knows, at this rate, maybe Americans will understand the nation’s dire fiscal situation.

26639
Share

Filed Under: New Jersey, NJ, politics Tagged With: Chris Christie, Fausta's blog, unions

April 8, 2011 By Fausta

That teacher in the video? She’s a union executive

The grey-haired lady, which the Star Ledger says is a “retired history teacher”?

WyBLog googled her,

She’s Co-Chair of the Government Relations Committee for the Hudson County Education Association (ie the Teachers’ Union).

One could only wish the reporters could actually, ehm, report.

25844
Share

Filed Under: New Jersey, NJ Tagged With: Chris Christie, Fausta's blog, unions

March 10, 2011 By Fausta

Law enforcement MIA in Wisconsin Capitol VIDEO

Law enforcement did nothing as union thugs stormed the Wisconsin State Capitol last night:

Madison – After a wild and raucous night at the State Capitol, the scene inside the building Thursday morning looks just like it was a few weeks ago when protesters camped out overnight.

At 6:30 a.m., there were dozens of people who stayed the night and were camped out in various locations in the building.

Of particular concern to police are a few dozen protesters who spent the night in the antechamber of the Assembly. The Assembly is scheduled to go into session at 11 a.m. Thursday to consider the bill on collective bargaining that the Senate approved last night in mere minutes.

A number of protesters said they had no intention of leaving the area Thursday.

In spite of the fact that

there is a court order that the building would be shut after regular business hours, yet law enforcement did nothing to enforce that court order.

Ann Althouse has photos of protesters streaming in as law enforcement officers stand by. This is what it looked like inside the Capitol, as “Police officers simply retreated,”

Christian Schneider explains How the Wisconsin Senate Passed Walker’s Bill, but Moe Lane has the condensed version,

the Democrats told the Republicans that there would be no further negotiations; the Republicans said “Fine” and took the bill to the floor; and the Democrats were left looking stunned, stammering, and standing there with their naughty bits in their hands.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Governor Scott Walker explains Why I’m Fighting in Wisconsin
We can avoid mass teacher layoffs and reward our best performers. But we have to act now.

While it might be a bold political move, the changes are modest. We ask government workers to make a 5.8% contribution to their pensions and a 12.6% contribution to their health-insurance premium, both of which are well below what other workers pay for benefits. Our plan calls for Wisconsin state workers to contribute half of what federal employees pay for their health-insurance premiums. (It’s also worth noting that most federal workers don’t have collective bargaining for wages and benefits.)

Heritage:

The courage of the Wisconsin Senate conservatives cannot be understated. Before the vote, lawmakers were threatened with death and physical violence. After the vote, thousands of protesters stormed into the capitol building, ignoring announcements from police that the building was closed. Once inside, and at great risk to the public welfare, activists handcuffed some doors to the capitol shut. When security escorted the Senators to another building, a Democrat tipped off the mob, which then surrounded their cars and tried to break their windows as Senators returned home.

What next? Betsy has a forecast (emphasis added),

Governor Walker and the Republicans can talk all they want about the need for limiting union power to elect their bosses who will then turn around and give in to whatever the unions demands no matter how they are creating the destruction of local and the state governments. Their answer is to raise taxes so that non-public workers can pay for those state employees can keep their comfy benefits. Unless those non-public employees get motivated to come out for these elections, the unions will be able to overwhelm turnout.

That is why Governor Walker, as the most prominent spokesman, needs to be out there. Those legislators up for recall need to be out there also. They need to explain that the union solution is to raise everyone’s taxes so that there will be more money for public employee workers. The can point out how, in states that elected Democrats, like neighboring Minnesota and Illinois, the solution for deficits is raising taxes. Tell the voters that the choice is between their paying more so that public employees can get better salaries and better benefits than they do. Tell them, as Governor Walker does in his column, that the voters have the opportunity to make sure that the unions don’t mandate that, in times of layoffs, the better teacher keeps his or her job, not just the one who has been there longer. Put it in terms that they understand. And one more recommendation for Governor Walker, get more examples than your brother. Every time I see him or read him, he’s using his brother as his example. Mix it up a bit.

But the GOP is fighting now to keep their majority. And the union will be able to get their people out there. Notice how they were able to get hundreds of their members out to the state Capitol last night in a short period of time. Imagine what they’ll do with time to prepare for these elections. The fight is on.

Post re-edited to include omitted paragraphs.

UPDATE,
More video from Ace’s Drew,

25407
Share

Filed Under: news, politics Tagged With: Fausta's blog, Scott Walker, unions, Wisconsin

March 6, 2011 By Fausta

Tea Partiers cleaning up the WI State Capitol today at 1PM

h/t Dennis

25341
Share

Filed Under: Fausta's blog Tagged With: Fausta's blog, unions, Wisconsin

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »
Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed

Recent Comments

  • John on Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • December 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com