A news release from the Fairness center indicates thsat Allentown taxpayers Steven Ramos and Scott Armstrong have filed suit in Commonwealth Court against the Allentown Education Association (AEA), the Allentown School District (ASD), and the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) to end a contract provision letting the AEA president work for the union while drawing a publicly funded salary and benefits.
“It’s absurd that Allentown taxpayers are being forced to pay a union employee’s salary along with health and pension benefits,” said Allentown taxpayer Steven Ramos. “How many students could be educated with the more than $1 million the district has given to a private organization? This misuse of public money must end.”
Allentown School District, the third largest in the state, has consistently struggled financially. Since 2011, the district has laid off 272 teachers. Incredibly, during those layoffs, a classroom teacher lost a job so a ghost teacher could stay on the district’s payroll. In an insult to dedicated teachers, the union president accrues seniority over classroom teachers while skipping school to work for the union.
You can read the complaint here. In November of last year, ASD Solicitor John Freund told the school board that paying the salary of the union president was illegal. His opinion can be read here.
10 comments:
Any time any organization can seize forced "dues" from hard working Americans, there are bound to be these sorts of abuses. Let's give our public sector workers The Dignity of Choice when it comes to joining (or not joining) a labor union.
- Jeffrey Anthony
Insanity! As an ASD taxpayer I am appalled that our hard-earned school taxes are funding a union position. That should be paid out of teacher's dues. We are already burdened with the highest school tax millage in the area.
Being a Union member, I agree that this is absurd and taxpayers should not be liable for paying a Union position. It should be recognized that this situation was accepted by the school district in the bargaining agreement, where it shouldn't have been. It seems to me that, as in many negotiations, each side throws in everything including the kitchen sink in order to "give" concessions during negotiations. I'll bet money the Union was surprised that this item (paying the Prez salary) actually survived and was approved by the school board. The Board accepted, so the Union kept it. These are educators who agreed to this? No wonder ASD is in trouble.
Investigate any public union , see who pays for the union reps. Shop stewards,etc.
@1:18
Rarely does the employer pay the salary of elected officers in the Union. Most officers are working members of the shop that is unionized, though there may be an agreement that a Steward or other officer may be allotted time to conduct investigations of grievances or disciplinary matters that involves the company and an employee. In my own union, no such allowance is given and pay for officers is totally union funded - which is why our members pay dues.
About time somebody took on the greedy union.
How can the school board allow this to happen ?
How many teachers monthly union dues would be required to pay the freight to support this person? Maybe a little expense account, mileage. Look at the school boards,populated by ex teachers ,administrators . I see no conflict of interest here! If they had to pay their own freight perhaps they couldn't pay off as many slime balls.
Idiotic idea. That's what union dues are for.
This is corruption in the school districts that has been going on for years, why should the taxpayer pay to deduct union dues? Let the union collect their own taxes. Why should the taxpayer be paying union reps and stewards to conduct union business. This is written into every school teachers contract. It is about time all these abuses are made known to the taxpayers, and maybe it is about time that school teacher contracts are put up for a referendum. At the least all school board members should be barred if they or their family members have connections to the teachers or are collecting a teachers pension. There is most definitely a conflict of interest on most school boards.
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