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Education Secretary DeVos Quashes Union Official Time

Secretary DeVos showed no-nonsense common sense and true leadership qualities as she showed union officials who’s boss. Her actions severely curtailed union power at the Department of Education, showing education begins at home, and union officials are calling fowl that their schemes to rob taxpayers are crumbling.   American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) the union involved in the Department of Education, made no comment, leaving that to American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

Union official time is a teacher union power grab which allows union officials to get paid, promoted and earn the same benefits as a teacher in the school system who actually works, while the union official devotes his or her time to union business, often never entering a classroom, but retiring with the same benefits of a teacher.

Alyson Klein has the story in Education Week.

AFGE accused DeVos and her team of “union busting” in a statement. Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, has taken up AFGE’s cause. But a spokeswoman for DeVos says AFGE “dragg[ed] its feet in negotiations” with the secretary and her team.

Over at the Education Department, AFGE contends that, after months of contentious negotiations, DeVos has imposed an “illegal collective bargaining agreement” that “guts” workers’ rights when it comes to things like workplace health and safety, telework, and alternative work schedules.