“We actually make communities safer and…the right-wing is threatened by that.”

By Larry Sand
03/06/2018
Union rhetoric about the Janus case has gone from hyperbolic to just plain crazy. If successful in the Supreme Court, the Janus v AFSCME case will free public employees from paying a union as a condition of employment in 22 states. Government workers in the other 28 states already have been spared the unions’ forced...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Bob Bowdon, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Choice Media, Friedrichs v CTA, Janus v. AFSCME, Larry Sand, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, Right to Work, teachers union, Trey Kovacs

More than the unions bargained for?

By Larry Sand
02/06/2018
A recent tactic, “bargaining for the common good” very well may bury the unions in Janus v. AFSCME. In June 2016, right around the time the Friedrichs v CTA case wound up in a 4-4 stalemate, Rachel Cohen wrote a piece for The American Prospect called “Teacher Unions Are ‘Bargaining for the Common Good. ’”...

TAGS: Abood, AFSCME, Alex Caputo-Pearl, bargaining for the common good, Friedrichs v CTA, Janus v. AFSCME, Larry Sand, National Education Association, Rodda Act, teachers union, UTLA

Worker freedom: The Janus edition

By Larry Sand
10/03/2017
With another right-to-work case headed to the Supreme Court, union lies and chicanery are in high gear. Among the greatest myths in recent history include the belief that Che Guevara was a freedom fighter, that China in the 20th Century was a “People’s Republic” and “If you like your health care plan, you can keep...

TAGS: AFL-CIO, Education Next, Friedrichs v CTA, George Leef, Janus v. AFSCME, Larry Sand, Liberty Justice Center, Mark Janus, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, National Right to Work Foundation, teachers union

Myths the Union Organizer Tells Us

By Larry Sand
12/15/2015
Socialist teacher union honcho’s distortions about union political spending and “labor peace” are, well, par for the course. Shaun Richman, a former organizing director for the American Federation of Teachers, has written a bizarre piece for In These Times in which he claims that “the Friedrichs v. Calif. Teachers Association SCOTUS Case Could Actually Be...

TAGS: Abood, agency fee payer, American Federation of Teachers, Dark money, Friedrichs v CTA, labor peace, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, RiShawn Biddle, teachers union

The Unions’ Assault on Truth

By Larry Sand
11/03/2015
The teachers unions continue to mislead its members and everyone else. In the latest issue of the California Federation of Teachers quarterly newsletter, CFT president Josh Pechthalt writes “The lawsuits that educators and unions must defeat,” which is referred to as a “special report” – special because it is especially filled with half-truths, omissions and...

TAGS: agency fee payers, Bain v. CTA, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, EdVoice, Edward Ring, Friedrichs v CTA, Josh Pechthalt, Larry Sand, Randi Weingarten, seniority, Students Matter, Stull Act, teachers union, tenure, Vergara

Dear California Teacher

By Larry Sand
10/06/2015
An email sent to educators just 10 years ago opened a lot of eyes – including mine – about the true nature of the teachers unions. In 2005, after having taught for 24 years, I was becoming quite agitated. All along I had been subsidizing the teachers unions’ political agenda and thought I had no...

TAGS: Bain v. CTA, California Teachers Association, California Teachers Empowerment Network, Deroy Murdock, Friedrichs v CTA, Larry Sand, National Right to Work Foundation, paycheck protection, Prop. 75, seiu, teachers union

Dear Randi (Redux),

By Larry Sand
06/16/2015
Given the assertions you make in your latest “Where We Stand” column, we need to talk! So it’s been a year since I last wrote to you. You sure have been busy! Defending mandatory voting laws and Hillary Clinton, railing against cheese sandwiches and Jeb Bush, it’s totally understandable that you may be getting a...

TAGS: Bain v. CTA, California Teachers Empowerment Network, collective bargaining, Fordham Institute, Friedrichs v CTA, Koch Brothers, Larry Sand, Mike Petrilli, National Council on Teacher Quality, Randi Weingarten, school choice, teachers union

Checking Out of the Hotel California…Teachers Association

By Larry Sand
08/12/2014
A new document shows that CTA is resigned to the fact that membership in its union will ultimately become voluntary. Courtesy of Mike Antonucci, we get to peek behind the curtain at an internal California Teachers Association document which has been “declassified.” “Not if, but when: Living in a world without Fair Share…” is a...

TAGS: California Teachers Association, fair share, Friedrichs v CTA, Harris v. Quinn, Larry Sand, Mike Antonucci, National Employee Freedom Week, National Right to Work Committee, paycheck protection, Prop. 75, teachers union