Posted on 07/01/2002 3:52:28 PM PDT by doug from upland
Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director
(360) 956-3482
NEA doesn’t show up in court; union fined $800,000 for “intentional” violations of state law
OLYMPIA, WA - A Thurston County Superior Court judge today fined the National Education Association (NEA) $800,000 plus legal fees for “intentional” violations of a Washington state law that prohibits the unauthorized use of agency fees* for political activity. The court also issued a permanent injunction barring the union from collecting agency fees from thousands of Washington state teachers.
The default judgment comes after the NEA missed a court deadline last week to respond to a lawsuit brought by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF), an Olympia-based policy research organization. EFF filed the lawsuit after staff of Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) found the union guilty of violating state law, but expressed reluctance to prosecute.
Although the NEA testified before both the Washington PDC and the United States Congress regarding the lawsuit, union attorneys failed to file a timely response or notify the court of a planned appearance.
“We are astounded that the NEA missed or ignored this deadline,” said Bob Williams, EFF’s president. “Apparently NEA officials think complying with state laws isn’t a high enough priority to merit close attention, but we expect this judgment to remind them that we value teachers’ rights here in Washington.”
EFF believes the NEA will make an excuse for missing the deadline and ask the court to vacate the judgment in the next few weeks.
Blue Cross and all school districts in Washington state have been notified that they must stop collecting the union’s agency fees from thousands of Washington teachers.
The NEA’s state affiliate, the Washington Education Association, was penalized more than $770,000 last year for breaking the same state law. The NEA’s fine bumps two earlier WEA fines to become the largest in Washington state history.
* Teachers who give up their union membership, often for political and ideological reasons, become “agency fee payers.” Washington state law strictly prohibits the use of any agency fees for political activity without first obtaining permission from each individual fee-payer.
Not only are these people unprincipled propagandists, they are self-confessed criminals. Let's see how many of the left-wing media report this.
Excuse me, but I thought this was indeed the case with ALL Union dues via a supreme court ruling that's aparently never, ever enforced.
(?)
Well, to be honest I can see them having that attitude.
I mean, eight hundred grand is nothing considering that they just skim it from peoples paychecks to begin with. It's not like they are having to pay with money they worked for and earned themselves.
I would be much happier if someone went to JAIL as opposed to somethign as ridiculous as this fine. It's like someone breaking into soda pop machines and getting caught.. and then tries to pay their fine in quarters.
"Repent NEA, or you will surely perish."
Since the NEA will never repent, let's help them perish. A wealthy NEA can buy whatever political clout they need to get their agendas passed. Help defund the NEA by informing teachers that they are entitled to a refund of the portion of their dues that the NEA and their state affiliates used for political activities. This refund can amount to several hundred dollars. See:
Reply # 14 in the thread Let's Help Nail the Teachers Unions -- It is National FReep Time
LANDMARK REPORTS NEA FLAUNTING FEDERAL LABOR REPORTING LAW
Here's some interesting information from the The Education Intelligence Agency (EIA) COMMUNIQUÉ (On the Web at http://www.eiaonline.com) -- May 13, 2002 issue:
"1) Are the Fat Years Over for NEA and AFT?
It used to be relatively easy for EIA to obtain accurate, up-to-date membership numbers for NEA and its state affiliates, but recently it has become a lot more difficult. Perhaps it is coincidental that the numbers are becoming harder and harder to find just as the news becomes less and less cheerful.
The tremors are small: lots of talk about needing inroads with Generation X teachers... financial problems here... possible layoffs there. In the past, membership problems were localized in the chronic, hard-to-organize states that had competing organizations. Today, the sounds are more widespread. NEA has grown every year since the mid-1980s, but for the first time the end of the boom may be in sight. The union experienced an increase of some 37,000 members this year -- about half of what it achieved in 2000-2001. More alarming if you're an NEA official is the fact that 20 state affiliates had a decrease in membership last year -- even as the number of potential members nationwide continues to grow at a fairly steady 2 percent annual clip.
EIA cannot yet identify which state affiliates are growing and which are not, though it seems safe to assume that the large states -- California, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, et al. -- continue to enjoy solid growth, while perennial weak sisters are now having serious problems. Activities to reverse the trend are already underway. The NEA Board of Directors granted $175,000 to the Mississippi Association of Educators for additional organizing. The North Carolina Association of Educators is laying the groundwork for an effort in support of collective bargaining in the state. North Carolina law currently bans collective bargaining by teachers.
Accurate AFT numbers are even harder to amass, because more of its members are not K-12 teachers. Nevertheless, the same tremors are coming from AFT. The AFT Executive Council's organizing committee met to discuss ways to get younger members more involved and active in the union. EIA estimates that about 70 percent of teachers are NEA and/or AFT members. Public school teaching may be the most highly unionized sector of the American workforce (the private sector is only 9 percent unionized). Is something about to give?"
We also need to inform teachers and education majors that there are alternative professional education associations that teachers can join for much less than what they are paying to the NEA:
Association of American Educators
25201 Paseo de Alicia, Suite 104
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Phone: 949-595-7979 or 1-800-704-7799
Fax: 949-595-7970
Email: info@aaeteachers.org
Website: www.aaeteachers.org
Please note that the AAE is not a union. It is a professional association. Annual dues are $125 per year for teachers (includes $2 Million liability insurance - one of the reasons teachers join the NEA or AFT is for liability insurance). Student, retired educator, and associate/support memberships are $25 per year.
Call the AAE and ask them to send you some of their brochures. Stuff them with Teacher317's "UNION DUES REFUND NOTICE" and hand them out to teachers and education majors. Take them to PTA/PTO meetings. Leave copies at school supply stores. Join the AAE as a support member.
Here are some links that will be of interest to teachers (and parents):
"Grading the NEA - What Every Teacher Needs to Know About The National Education Association: A Special Report" by Perry L. Glanzer, Ph.D. & Travis R. Pardo (http://www.family.org/gradingthenea/news/a0012243.html)
"Teacher Unions and Parent Involvement" (http://www.educationpolicy.org/EPIseries/parent-bklt.htm)
17 posted on 5/21/02 7:21 AM Pacific by EdReform
Please pass this information on.
Describes the NEA perfectly.
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