Schools in Worcester Mass extort tax payer money to give to unions

Joeslogic · Jun 9, 2010

Marine: Union bullying me to pay $500

Teacher runs ROTC, rejects any benefits
By Jessica Van Sack
Tuesday, June 8, 2010

A retired U.S. Marine who runs a high school ROTC program in Worcester says he faces the boot for refusing to pay local union dues, leaving the 58-year-old father of two crying foul and school administrators bewildered.

â€œIt just seems crazy that theyâ€™re gonna fire me over $500,â€ said Maj. Stephen L. Godin, senior naval science instructor at the Naval Junior ROTC Unit of North High School. â€œEveryoneâ€™s talking about finding good teachers - I havenâ€™t missed a day in 14 years.â€

Indeed, North High School Principal Matthew Morse praised Godin yesterday as an â€œexcellentâ€ instructor who has turned his program into a top junior ROTC academy.

Godin, a 20-year Marine veteran until 1994, who flew F-4 Phantoms and was deployed five times, said he refuses to join the union because he receives all his benefits, including health insurance and half his salary, from the military. Unlike other teachers, he doesnâ€™t earn a stipend for after-school activities, such as the hours he spends coaching the high schoolâ€™s regional champion drill team. His salary is dictated by the U.S. Military, not labor negotiators, Godin said.

Officials from the Education Association of Worcester did not return repeated calls, and the Massachusetts Teachers Association declined comment.

State law requires certain public employees to join unions as a condition of employment or pay a so-called agency fee, which goes toward the cost of collective bargaining. But Godin said he shouldnâ€™t have to pay the $500 fee because he receives no benefit from the local union. He provided a letter from the local union demanding he join or pay the fee by the school yearâ€™s end. Godin said in 14 years of teaching in Worcester public schools, heâ€™s never been asked to pony up for the union.

â€œIâ€™ve always worked hard,â€ he said. â€œIâ€™m a loyal Marine. Now theyâ€™re chasing me away.â€

Worcester schools superintendent Melinda J. Boone said she has asked the district school attorney to investigate a way to keep Godin on board, but added, â€œthis is really a union matter.â€
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WTF???????????

My tax dollars pay for these shit ass public schools and the teachers HAVE to pay a union fee?

How the fuck is this possibly legal? Texans would come unglued. Stupid ass liberal yankees.

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