Posted July 27th, 2009 by Craig GordonDo read on.
California’s Democratic legislature and Republican governor have just agreed to a budget dealing new, devastating blows to poor and working people and another gift to corporations and the rich. It delivers $9 billion in cuts to kindergarten-through-university public education, and eliminates billions more in services to the families of low-income students. All proposals to mitigate the damage with new taxes, including a modest tax on oil production, were dropped. So naturally the California Teachers Association went all out to lobby for the budget’s approval. And when it passed Friday, CTA thanked “our many members who have reached out to Legislators and the Governor to ensure education is not forgotten during the budget crisis.”
Confused? You wouldn’t be if you’d been following CTA over the years. CTA regularly pumps up its membership to “fight” for school funding and then lets the air out in the name of pragmatism. In 2004 CTA affiliates around the state joined in the campaign to collect signatures for a ballot initiative to increase taxes on commercial property to fund public schools. After all of the time, effort, and $3.4 million of members’ dues had been spent qualifying the initiative for the ballot, CTA pulled the plug. The following year it repeated the scenario, this time announcing its withdrawal at a press conference flanked by manufacturers and commercial property owners who thanked CTA for backing off of progressive taxation that would have “severely damaged business, costing jobs and threatening our economy.” (Sacramento Bee, 8/5/2005) . . .
Monday, July 27, 2009
Union Suits and Corporate Bosses
On Craig Gordon's new blog, he has this on, yet, another example of betrayal from union leadero who have chosen a place at the trough over the interests of education:
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A day of reckoning is coming for these scumbags like Vogel who betray the working people they are supposed to represent. Read this and be warned sellout artists!
ReplyDeleteRioting Chinese Steel Workers Kill Boss Over Layoffs
Posted by: Frederik Balfour on July 27
Some 30,000 angry Chinese workers staged a riot at a steel factory in China that resulted in its boss getting beaten to death, underscoring just how quickly economic problems can stoke social unrest. The workers were protesting the sale of state-owned Tonghua Iron & Steel in Jilin province to a private group which they feared would lead to the loss of jobs. The manager, Chen Guojun, who died on Friday, had been sent to the steel plant by its new owners, Jianlong Group. According to the Financial Times, the unrest has prompted the government to scrap the privatization deal.