Organized Labor and beyond the mythology

There is an arrogance about unions in some quarters. There is the presumtion that anything corporate is evil and unions are saintly. Big labor has lost its way by allowing far left activists to marry them to inane and toxic causes like OWS. The purpose of a labor union is to collectively negotiate for its members and protect the rights of its members.

Unions lose credibility when they do things as stupid as defend teachers having sexual relationships with students. There are plenty of cases where management wrongfully abuses or terminates workers, but this is a tad much. Even guilty people are entitled to a defense, but teachers unions are utterly disgraceful sometimes.

Do note the major newspapers go crazy and hype the stories of sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church and the Ultra Orthodox Jewish sects. Despite many high profile cases they have not placed educators and their union defenders under similar scrutiny. Sorry, but the media feigns ignorance when discussing the union defence of boorish behavior by educators.

When discussing job actions like an honest mistake. I tend to be forgiving as these are clerical errors that can happen to anyone. When discussing corruption, gross misconduct or ethical lapses this is something far more serious. An educator wearing sneakers instead of shoes is a small matter. Selling grades or sexual relations with students is a more serious matter. All people are entitled to a defence including the guilty and ethically challenged. Sometimes the union guys are the good guys and frequently they are not.