UPDATE, 4/14, "UPDATE: California Teachers Union Pulls Back Protest Plans," BigGovernment.com, Ron Nehring
- The California Teachers Union has scaled back some of their original protest plans due to adverse publicity via BigGovernment.com.
"Earlier today, I posted about the California Teachers Association’s plan to occupy the State Capitol on May 9-13 as part of the union’s protests to increase tax revenue for the state’s schools and teachers. I now have further information, including the news that
- CTA has budgeted $1 million for the protests.
The union has set up a web site of material for activists at CAstateofemergency.com. The documents include the handout I posted earlier, plus a 10-page list of “potential activities” (I saw many activities listed but only 3 pages and several of the more provocative activities have disappeared, ed.),the CTA State Council dreamed up. The State Council consists of more than 700 elected union representatives from all across the state. I’ve also posted this document on the EIA web site.
The “potential activities” include:
- * Target the businesses of legislators in their home districts.
- * Circle the offices of “problem legislators.” Target them with various actions.
- * Picket/rally in front of legislators’ offices/homes.
- * Follow targeted legislators for the entire day.
- * Have students and parents do informational picketing for one hour outside their school site.
- * Have parents and students camp in front of schools all night.
* Have teachers being laid off contact parents and other CTA members.
* Make phone calls on Parents’ Day. Call parents to tell them how their child is doing and then talk about the budget cuts and invite them to attend the rallies.
* Refrain from Shopping Day. Show the value of educators and other public employees and the economic contribution they make to local communities by refraining from shopping one day.
* Throw monopoly money in the toilet to show that all our money is going down the drain
* Publish a list of companies that are not paying their fair share of taxes. Send letters to these companies and the media and picket their offices. Withdraw funds from banks that are not paying their fair share. (Editor’s note: CTA is a tax-exempt organization.)
* One-day boycott of Microsoft and other corporations that are pushing failed education reform efforts.
* Turn fire/earthquake drill into crisis response drill to the budget cuts (involve students and the community) (This wasn't on the list when I got there, ed.)
* Attempt to close a major artery into town/cities (This wasn't on the list I saw, ed.)
* Have celebrities involved in the demonstrations (p. 2, last group, item #2)
* Dye hair red or wear red wigs
* Homeless encampments of students and teachers as they can afford a place to live
* Have people participate in a run across the state with a torch (like the Olympics)
* Statewide “A Day with No Teachers”
* Pay for everything with $2 bills to show true impact of teachers.
* “Lights Out Day” during the week where educators teach in the dark
* Protest at an MLB game. Everyone wears a matching shirt and sits in one section. Have scoreboard acknowledge their presence (i.e., “pink-slipped teachers seated in section ___”) (p. 3, item #10)
* Work with organization like Ben & Jerry to have them create a labor-union flavored ice cream that can be sold at the rallies and in stores.""
------------------------------------
(Several of the activities must have been removed since the article was written. For example, I couldn't find 'labor union flavored ice cream' , 'close a major artery', 'have crisis drills,' maybe they were erased, maybe they'll be back. ed.)
==========================
Spring, 2010, "The Beholden State-How public sector unions broke California," City Journal, Steve Malanga
"Frustrated, Schwarzenegger backed a series of 2005 initiatives sponsored by taxpayer groups to curb the unions and restrain government growth, including
- one that made it harder for public-employee unions to use members’ dues for political purposes.
The controversial proposals sparked the most expensive statewide election in American history. ...The spending spree included $57 million from the CTA, which
- mortgaged its Sacramento headquarters for the cause.
All of the initiatives went down to defeat."...
via Weasel Zippers
No comments:
Post a Comment