‘No freaking way!’ Teachers revolt over union’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton

[Freewill]

This kind of stuff is why Unions are tanking.

No freaking way Teachers revolt over union s endorsement of Hillary Clinton - EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – For a union built on democracy, activist teachers are wondering how the American Federation of Teachers could have possibly endorsed Hillary Clinton for president without them knowing about it.

Candi Peterson, Washington (D.C.) Teachers’ Union, pennedan article at Common Dreams in which several die-hard union activists appeared to be utterly befuddled by the national union’s sudden announcement.

Chicago activist Katie Osgood says, “I know many AFT members too and have not heard one person polled either.” The union claimed it polled members on their opinions.

According to the calculation of “Mr. Stevens,” only .04 percent of members were surveyed.

 

[Mr. H.]

It wouldn't have mattered if 100% were surveyed.

 

[hipeter924]

Bernie Sanders clearly is supported over Hillary Clinton by union members, yet they ignore their own members to endorse the corporate candidate?

Given no one could locate AFT’s poll of members', the Badass Teachers Association (BAT) took matters into their own hands by conducting a poll on Face Book. So far 1240 teachers endorsed Bernie Sanders and only 84 endorsed Clinton. One teacher said "Weingarten has this thing about giving false information via polls... It's scary."

Some of our AFT members are taking matters into their own hands and have created a petition to demand AFT rescind their Hillary for US president endorsement. Click here for the petition. So far 1,109 have signed on.

Link: Teachers Say No Freaking Way to AFT Endorsement of Hillary Clinton Common Dreams Breaking News Views for the Progressive Community
But if they don't like their union, they had better start another one that isn't purely a Hillary Clinton campaign fund.

 

[Freewill]

This sounds like an oopsie to me. The Union naturally assumed their members supported Mrs. Clinton or worse didn't give a crap. When I was in the union for 25 years not once was I asked whom the union should endorse. I am sure if I had questioned the endorsement of whatever democrat they were endorsing i would have been labeled as anti-union.

Will the union back down? Can you say no, hell no? They know whose tit they want to suckle to get the most milk.

 

[Valerie]

yes freaking way!




Hillary Clinton scored a major union endorsement on Saturday when the American Federation of Teachers announced its support for the Democratic frontrunner.

The endorsement is not a surprise, as the AFT also backed Clinton in 2007 in her primary battle against then-Sen. Barack Obama, but it is the first national union to endorse a candidate in the 2016 Democratic primary.

"In vision, in experience and in leadership, Hillary Clinton is the champion working families need in the White House," AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. "Hillary understands that to reclaim the promise of public education, policymakers need to work with educators and their unions."

According to the AFT, Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley also sought their endorsement, but members of the union chose Clinton by a three-to-one margin.

Clinton, through a statement released by her campaign, said she was honored to have the support of the AFT.

"We need to make sure every child has access to a quality public education and teachers with the tools to help them succeed," Clinton said. "The men and women of AFT work throughout our communities in our preschools, K-12 schools, hospitals, colleges and universities, and public agencies. Their voices and the voices of all workers are essential to this country."

Major teachers union endorses Hillary Clinton - CNNPolitics.com



The 1.6 million-member AFT is the first national union to announce its endorsement. The union said it will be “engaging and mobilizing” its members and supporters to “reclaim the promise of America” by helping Clinton get the nomination next year.

To get the endorsement, Clinton and fellow Democrat contenders Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders completed a questionnaire and appeared before the AFT’s executive council. (No Republicans accepted the invitation, says the AFT.) Clinton seems to have wowed the union with this rah-rah response: “It is just dead wrong to make teachers the scapegoats for all of society’s problems. Where I come from, teachers are the solution. And I strongly believe that unions are part of the solution, too.”

Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton But Her Positions On Education Issues Remain Murky

 

[bripat9643]

This sounds like an oopsie to me. The Union naturally assumed their members supported Mrs. Clinton or worse didn't give a crap. When I was in the union for 25 years not once was I asked whom the union should endorse. I am sure if I had questioned the endorsement of whatever democrat they were endorsing i would have been labeled as anti-union.

Will the union back down? Can you say no, hell no? They know whose tit they want to suckle to get the most milk.

The unions didn't give a crap. The union bosses know Hillary will keep their place at the trough. That's all they care about.

 

[Valerie]

The 1.6 million-member AFT is the first national union to announce its endorsement.

A poll conducted by Hart Research between June 22 and 27 showed that 79% of members who can vote in the Democratic primary support a primary endorsement and those members prefer Clinton (67%) over Sanders (19%).

O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee each got no more than 1% of the vote.

The results also showed that 16% of members would rather not endorse a candidate.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Crazy. Trump and Cruz would definitely go out of their way to help teachers.

 

[Valerie]

hmm let's see...



1.6 million-members...

79% of the members who can vote in the Democratic primary were polled...

67% of them ^ were for Hillary being endorsed...

the OP hangs his hat on a small number of loud mouths who say they didn't vote...


To get the endorsement, Clinton and fellow Democrat contenders Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders completed a questionnaire and appeared before the AFT’s executive council.

(No Republicans accepted the invitation, says the AFT.)

 

[Freewill]

The 1.6 million-member AFT is the first national union to announce its endorsement.

A poll conducted by Hart Research between June 22 and 27 showed that 79% of members who can vote in the Democratic primary support a primary endorsement and those members prefer Clinton (67%) over Sanders (19%).

O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee each got no more than 1% of the vote.

The results also showed that 16% of members would rather not endorse a candidate.

Could be that 67 percent indeed did agree with the endorsement, but if, as the OP states, only .04 percent were polled it is rather a meaningless number. Besides, shouldn't they let people hear about what Sanders has to say before they poll them. Sanders is doing well against the wife of the man who brought us NAFTA and the job destruction it has caused. Can't punish Bill, but Mrs. Clinton is cut from the same cloth.

 

[Freewill]

hmm let's see...



1.6 million-members...

79% of the members who can vote in the Democratic primary were polled...

67% of them ^ were for Hillary being endorsed...

the OP hangs his hat on a small number of loud mouths who say they didn't vote...


To get the endorsement, Clinton and fellow Democrat contenders Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders completed a questionnaire and appeared before the AFT’s executive council.

(No Republicans accepted the invitation, says the AFT.)

Need a link to verify your information.

 

[Valerie]

it's in my prior post. #5



feel free to believe the endorsement is meaningless...

 

[Freewill]

If bored you can go to Facebook and read the mostly negative comments:

By more than 3-1 our members told us... - AFT - American Federation of Teachers Facebook

 

[Freewill]

President Randi Weingarten’s sits on the board of Mrs Clinton's PAC, not very impartial.

 

[Manonthestreet]

I hope the union spends and spends and spends their dues on this.....

 

[Freewill]

it's in my prior post. #5



feel free to believe the endorsement is meaningless...

Nope, only mentions generalities. Could be that the executive board was polled and 75 percent agreed with the decision. It certainly seems by the comments on Facebook that there are a lot of teachers that were not asked one question. Asking those who have the most to gain then saying it represents the majority is what I said was meaningless.

Besides the fact that a teachers union selecting a democrat is not very meaningful or surprising to a Republican.

 

[Mac1958]

I don't think there's any rule that says a union has to follow the opinions of its members, is there?

As I understand it, the members willingly transfer that representative power to union leadership, so it's gonna do what it wants to do.

.

 

[amrchaos]

I don't think there's any rule that says a union has to follow the opinions of its members, is there?

The members willingly transfer that representative power to union leadership, so it's gonna do what it wants to do.

.

Not quite so

If the leadership acts against the members wishes, then members can recall them.

What the teachers union did was risky, they should have polled their members. Instead, this look a little like they were bought by Hillary.

 

[Mac1958]

I don't think there's any rule that says a union has to follow the opinions of its members, is there?

The members willingly transfer that representative power to union leadership, so it's gonna do what it wants to do.

.

Not quite so

If the leadership acts against the members wishes, then members can recall them.

What the teachers union did was risky, they should have polled their members. Instead, this look a little like they were bought by Hillary.

So members can recall and/or vote the leaders out based on their actions - so yeah, the leaders take a risk. But they can still do as they please while they're in there, right?

.

 

[amrchaos]

I don't think there's any rule that says a union has to follow the opinions of its members, is there?

The members willingly transfer that representative power to union leadership, so it's gonna do what it wants to do.

.

Not quite so

If the leadership acts against the members wishes, then members can recall them.

What the teachers union did was risky, they should have polled their members. Instead, this look a little like they were bought by Hillary.

So members can recall and/or vote the leaders out based on their actions - so yeah, the leaders take a risk. But they can still do as they please while they're in there, right?

.

They could--but actions like endorsements can be rescinded, so what use is there to do so if it angers the members. They have to hold a vote at sometime time to regain trust. They could lose members if they do not.