“Actually, the teachers got a “raise” in TAKE HOME pay by not having to pay union dues.”
This is their fear. They see what happened in Wisconsin, as people dropped out of unions in droves to save money. And they can offset the additional cost of Obamacare, which of course the unions support.
Loss of union dues isn’t what really really hurt the Wisconsin teacher’s union.
The union had a wholly-owned “health-insurance company”, with a sole-source/no-bid contract that netted them about $10,000 per year per teacher.
They lost that no-bid provision and had to cut their rates by 40% to come close to staying competitive.