Teachers SHOULD NOT be in unions - Danielle keep them in DETENTION
Episode Stats
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176.97795
Summary
Teachers are striking in Alberta, Alberta, Canada, and I have a different perspective on it. I think unions should be banned in the public sector, especially in the education sector, because they are a tool used to extort money from the government.
Transcript
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Hi, it's John and welcome to the channel. Tuesday, October the 7th, my second video today. I hope
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you're having a great day today. I still have my big blue mug of coffee and I want to weigh in on
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the Alberta teacher strike. I haven't talked about this and I think I have a different perspective
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on this. When these kind of things happen, I immediately think that public servants should
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not be allowed in unions and I don't care who it is, whether it's federal employees,
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provincial employees, or teachers, they should not be allowed in unions. And I'm going to run
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through a number of reasons, and I got a bunch of them, in just a moment why they should not be
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allowed in unions. Now, as far as this teacher strike goes, I really don't give a damn. I don't
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have any kids. I feel for you if your kids are out of school right now. I do. And I have some sympathy
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for you. My next door neighbors, their kids are out in the backyard yesterday playing. They're not in
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school. I've been on some comment sections in local newspapers encouraging Daniel Smith to hold on
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to keep the teachers in detention for as long as she can. I mean, a lot of teachers live paycheck to
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paycheck as well. And pretty soon the kiddies are going to be screaming for their PS5s for Christmas
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and the money's not coming in right now. I think the teachers will eventually cave.
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So let's look at an article that got me thinking about this today. This is from the National Post.
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Carson Jerema. I'm going to read a little bit. I'll put a link in the description. You can read the
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whole thing. It's a good article. Carson Jerema abolished the teachers unions. Alberta strike
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canceling classes across the province shows unions have far too much power. Okay, so a little bit
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from this article. As much as teachers unions like to claim their members are essential to society,
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the Alberta teachers strike that canceled classes for 740,000 students on Monday shows that the
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exercise of raw political power matters more to them than educating students. How else do you
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explain the rejection of a deal that included a 12% raise in the hiring of 3,000 more teachers?
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When teachers go on strike, parents and students are disproportionately punished as there are few
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other places to send children for school, especially in the middle of the year. While there are more
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options in Alberta, which permits charter schools and funds private schools at a higher rate than other
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provinces, it is not nearly enough to challenge the public school monopoly, which in practice is
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little more than a teachers union racket. Alberta Teachers Association President Jason Schilling hinted
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at what was going on when he said that the proposed agreement failed to meet the needs of teachers,
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that it failed to improve student classroom conditions, and failed to respect teachers.
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As everyone knows, respect is just union speak for more money. The government's last proposal would
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raise salaries for the average teacher to $114,000 after 10 years, up from about $101,000 in the previous
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agreement. Whether one finds that generous or miserly is beside the point, though I find it generous.
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I do as well. The fact that the Teachers Association can shut down every public school in the province
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accounting for 90% of students is untenable. Also untenable is the fact that the Teachers Association
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is clearly motivated by politics. The ATA has clashed with Premier Daniel Smith's United Conservative
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Party government on curriculum, the presence of books that depict graphic S in school libraries,
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and whether schools should be mandated to tell parents if their children change their names or pronouns.
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It is the government, not the ATA, that has a mandate to set education policy and funding priorities.
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The fact that the Teachers Union is not merely interested in advocating for its members' wages
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and working conditions, but in changing all manner of public policy, is poisonous. This is typical of
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unions, but in the public sector especially, they should be politically neutral. It is difficult not to
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come to the conclusion that the ATA's opposition to a deal with the province is driven by its disdain
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for the party in power. So what can the government do to prevent this rank educational hostage-taking
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from happening in the future? Most simply, it could pass legislation outlawing strikes in the public
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sector, including in education. I think they should outlaw unions in the public sector altogether.
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Going to happen? Not a chance, but here are my reasons why.
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Number one, we pay their wages. The public pays their wages. Some of the teachers' wages go to union
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dues. Those dues are used by the union to support left-wing political parties. I don't want to support
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left-wing political parties directly or indirectly. Number two, unions use children as pawns to extort
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more money from the government. The money comes from me. I don't want anything to do with this.
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Number three, unions, for the most part, support left-wing parties. They can threaten those parties
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with pulling their support if they don't get what they want. It's another form of extortion.
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Number four, when left-wing parties are in power, they can give more of my money to unions to buy votes.
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Number five, if someone is a union member and happens to be a conservative,
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why should they have to support left-wing causes they disagree with by paying union dues?
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And number six, unions openly support political parties that I disagree with.
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All of these are reasons why I don't think public employees should be in unions. Now, for those of you
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saying, John, unions cannot use money to support political parties. Folks, it happens all the time.
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The other day, they had a get-together in front of the Alberta legislature where a bunch of people
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showed up with signs screaming at Danielle Smith to make a deal with the teachers' union.
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Money goes into things like that, and teachers' unions funnel money through third-party groups
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all the time during election campaigns. So, don't say it doesn't happen.
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As far as I'm concerned, Danielle Smith needs to hold out.
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I think eventually that the union will cave and give in to more of her demands.
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Tell me what you think. If you like the video, give me a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel,
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ring the bell for notifications, and I'll see you in the next one.