PA Teacher On Union: "If I don’t pay the fee, I lose my job. It’s that simple."

A recent article by a union boss in Pennsylvania prompted this letter from Julie Raab, a teacher who resents being threatened with job loss if she doesn’t pay union fees.

AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale recently claimed that workers rights are under attack from “union-busting” legislation (“The war on workers has arrived in Harrisburg. Here’s why we have to stop it,” As I See It, Jan. 12). As a 27-year Dauphin County public educator, I fail to see how protecting my freedom to choose to fund a union or not and whether my money goes to support political causes I actually believe in constitutes a “war on workers.”

I support the ability to unionize and would gladly pay for quality representation that’s responsive to the worker. In fact, I used to be a union member myself. However, I soon found that teachers’ unions PSEA and NEA funded political causes I don’t believe in.

The best I could do in Pennsylvania’s current system is resign and become a “fair share” fee payer. That means I pay $435 a year to the union, or 64 percent of union dues in my school district, to an organization I don’t support, for representation I don’t want. If I don’t pay the fee, I lose my job. It’s that simple.

Read the rest at PennLive.com.