[edi581] Re: Unions
- From: "diana romeo" <dromeo@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: edi581@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 12:11:46 -0500
Jerry wrote:
Carl said:
The job of any union is to protect the RIGHTS of its members, but when they
fight to keep people in place who have no right to be there, they are only
cheating the majority of their members who take pride in their work and (more
than) earn their pay.
Jerry answered:
Maybe. But think of it this way. It is a lawyer's job to represent her
client as professionally as she can, even when she KNOWS her client is GUILTY!
This guarantees that "due process" was folowed and that her client's rights
were not violated. A union should behave much the same way. It's not their job
to decide whether the administration's charges are true or false, but rather,
to ensure the administration is following the procedures as outlined in the
current contract which both parties signed.
Again we agree- up to a point!
It is unquestionably a union's job to protect a member's RIGHTS. This means,
as you pointed out, to be sure that due process has been followed in the
dismissal process, as outlined in the contract, and all rules are followed.
EVERYONE has this right. However, equating this with fighting to make the
district RETAIN the employee is an equivocation. No one has a RIGHT to a job
for which they are totally unqualified, and it is the union's job only to
protect the member's rights.
Your analogy of unions to trial lawyers has some validity, but to conclude
that they must defend "guilty" parties with equal vigor(if that is what you are
doing, I'm not sure) ignores some important differences, and is therefore built
upon a false premise- that they both have the same role.
A lawyer defends only one client at a time. Unions have a dual role: to
defend their members' rights individually, and to work toward the common good
of ALL its members. If protecting the jobs (not the rights) of people who are
consummately unqualified to be in the profession ultimatley hurts the
profession, and by extension, its individual members, the union has no
obligation to do this, and perhaps an obligation not to. Again, I delineate the
difference between "protecting a member's RIGHTS" and "protecting a member's
JOB" when the member is unqualified- two different things. Therefore, it may be
the union's job to know if the grounds for dismissal are fair and guide their
actions by this.
You notice I said "MAY BE" and not "IS". This is a multi-faceted issue, with
many layers, and I would never suggest that my viewpoint is THE correct one. It
is a great subject for discussion, and there are facets we haven't even touched
on.
I love these dialogs! I wish we could have started earlier, and with more
people involved.
Carl
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