Teacher Union Officials Look to Corporations for Money
St. Paul Federation of Teachers (SPFT) is attempting to make corporate funding of schools a subject of bargaining, but the school board isn’t having it. At the same time SPFT is ignoring calls for a merit pay system. Solvejg Wastvedt has the story on mprnews.org.
Meanwhile, Mike Antonucci reports on the NEA’s criticism of corporate greed while investing millions of forced-dues dollars into (you guessed it) corporations.
This sudden interest in corporate “greed” and school funding money comes as these same unions prepare for a positive decision in the Janus case, which will probably end up with sizeable membership losses for these unions. And University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management professor John Budd seems to agree.
“Traditionally, U.S. unions have been very bread-and-butter focused,” Budd said. However, Budd said lately more unions have taken to bargaining like the St. Paul teachers, on issues beyond wages and benefits. Budd said the approach can be used to win gains and build momentum in a political and economic climate that’s become more hostile to unions.
The St. Paul teachers union says tax breaks long enjoyed by the city’s businesses, colleges, hospitals and other nonprofits are letting those institutions off the hook when it comes to paying their fair share for schools.