Pennsylvania GOP Gov. Tom Corbett's numbers are in freefall these days, and with a month to go before he loses in a landslide to Democrat Tom Wolf, Corbett is reminding everyone of what Republicans have done to Pennsylvania's union heritage: Philadelphia teachers have had their contract summarily canceled in order to take their health care benefits away.
The state panel that oversees Philadelphia’s cash-strapped public schools abruptly canceled a contract with teachers on Monday, despite nearly two years of labor negotiations, and said teachers would have to begin paying for healthcare benefits.
The move, which a labor expert said was likely unprecedented in the United States, would free up $43.8 million for the district this school year. Next year, it is facing a $71 million budget shortfall.
The system’s long-running financial woes have become a full-blown crisis over the past couple years, leading to thousands of layoffs, dozens of shuttered buildings and program cuts.
The move will affect the roughly 16,000 members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, which represents teachers, assistants, nurses, counselors and others.
Keep in mind the Republicans on the state education board simply canceled the teachers' contracts. No negotiation, no bargaining, no appeal, just zap and gone. Contract law simply means nothing in the state now, because Republicans will crush teachers in order to destroy public education in the state. Corbett and state Republicans simply decided that Philadelphia's school district was under this provision, and then they used it.
Poof.
That's what "right-to-work" means. You have the right to work for what your bosses tell you you'll work for, or poof.
But please, continue to believe the problem is "greedy teacher's unions" because schoolteachers are such awful human beings who have to be punished whenever possible, the slime. Meanwhile, more tax cuts for the rich!
Right?
Poof.
It's what you voted for, Pennsylvania. Please fix that in November.
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