When It Comes to Education Unions, It’s Power, Not People

Rachel Sheffield / February 24, 2011

After days of lost class time for Wisconsin students, teachers have returned to school. Yet Governor Scott Walker (R) is still faced with the demands of teachers unions who are pushing against reforms that would restructure teacher pension and benefit plans and reform unions’ collective bargaining power.

While unions announced over the weekend that they would concede the pension and health benefits piece of the proposal, they continue to demand that their collective bargaining authority remain intact. Some may see this as a good start, yet such action only manifests more clearly that for unions, this battle isn’t about supposed claims to protect teachers; what this battle is really about for unions is power. And unions affirm this truth themselves, stating that “it’s not about money” but rather their collective bargaining power. (more…)