Public sector union employees deserve more power over their leadership

Originally published in The Philadelphia Inquirer

In a stunning admission of incompetence, Jerry Jordan, the boss of Pennsylvania’s largest teachers’ union, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, admitted he only recently started requesting paid family leave for his members. Meanwhile, Philly teachers are left struggling to cobble together time off for maternity leave.

If I were a Philly teacher having money siphoned off my paycheck to fund Jordan’s salary, I would be livid and demand more control over my union leaders. Alas, this is not what teachers and other government sector union employees are going to get if Pennsylvania House Democrats have their way.

A proposed constitutional amendment, House Bill 950, passed the Pennsylvania House this week. The bill grants union executives like Jordan the constitutional power to “bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work.”

Read more in The Philadelphia Inquirer