"When I first started teaching, I taught 38 children in my morning kindergarten and 39 in the afternoon class. At the time, this was a good assignment as many of my colleagues had 50 children in the morning and 50 children in the afternoon. Children were not provided with proper materials like textbooks, pencils, art supplies or access to music, art and gym teachers. Teachers routinely worked a second job to make ends meet.
It was collective bargaining that changed some of these conditions. I will not list reasons why teaching is still not an easy paycheck. I’ll let the fact that 50 percent who try teaching leave the profession in their first six years make the argument for me.
No doubt Mr. Feiwell also feels the grocery clerk, the auto assembly line worker, the actor, the writer, the baker, and on and on who do not do “hard labor” should not have unions either. The fact is, workers, no matter what their jobs, are subject to unjust working conditions and unfair compensation without the power that unions provide directly or indirectly.
American workers in general can expect a 40-hour work week, weekends, vacation time and laws against child labor all because of unions. Indeed, America was able to build a strong middle class only because of the work of the labor movement.
The current attack on public employee unions is an attack on the last stronghold of the labor movement. Only 11 percent of American workers are now unionized, many of these are public employees. The American electorate will have to decide if it is acceptable or not to undo the hard-won work of the Labor movement by voting for candidates who do or do not support the rights of the middle class.
What we take for granted can be gone in a flash. Anything is possible in a democracy. That’s why it takes constant vigilance."
Workers subject to unjust working conditions without unions: Sun News Letter to the Editor | cleveland.com
