Per this, a reader writes:
When my wife was teaching in an urban district, she went to a couple of public meetings to speak in defense of the district’s takeover efforts at her school, noting that the physical working conditions, books and supplies, and student performance all had improved since the takeover. Both times, a union representative stood up and called her a “whore” in the public meetings.
This was particularly curious for two reasons: a) she was a dues-paying member of the union (as were all the other teachers at the school); and b) she was making about 24k, which made her a particularly poorly-paid whore, thanks to the union contract that wouldn’t allow any performance incentive pay.
As amazing as it is to see union officials berate the district administration “opposition,” it’s even more amazing to watch them consistently berate and belittle their own membership. It’s not a sustainable m.o.; eventually, bailing out on the hardest-working and most-talented segment of union members to defend the job rights of the least talented catches up with you.