Two young children are sitting in their breakfast nook, eating breakfast cereal. It is late Summer/early Fall. Their mother is upstairs and 8.5 months pregnant.
Andy: Look, Jenny! Jenny, you're not looking at me! See what I...
Jenny: Shut up, Andy! You're such a baby. Wow, you stacked your cereal...do you want a million dollars?
Andy: You don't have a million dollars! Don't be a sillyhead, Jenny.
Mommy: (She walks into the breakfast nook): Andy, don't call your sister names. Finish your cereal, guys.
Jenny: First day of school, Mommy!
Andy: Yeah, Mommy, first day of school!
Mommy: Sorry, kiddos. School doesn't start today. Hopefully, it will start next week. It's OK, because I need my little helpers. You can help Mommy around the house. I can barely move with your little brother in my belly!
Jenny: But I wan't to see my friends!
Andy: Yeah, and I want to use my colored pencils!
Mommy: I need your help today. Lupe's mother is sick, so you guys can help me around the house!
Mommy: I need your help today. Lupe's mother is sick, so you guys can help me around the house!
Jenny: Why is there no school, Mommy? It's not snowing and you said last night was a school-niiiight.
Andy: Yeah, Mommy. It's not snowing. Why is there no school?
Jenny: Quit repeating me, Andy! You're such a baby!
Mommy: Take it easy, wiseguys. There's no school because your teachers are on something called a strike.
Jenny: What's a strike, Mommy?
Mommy: Well... I guess... I guess it's when a group of people don't go to work because they are all unhappy about something. They might not make enough money, or they might work in scary, dangerous places. Sometimes strikes are for good reasons and help people's lives, and other times they are for bad reasons and hurt people's lives.
Andy: Can I watch SpongeBob?
Jenny: Shut up, Andy! Mommy's talking! Mommy, so its like a vacation?
Mommy (Distracted, in discomfort): Ooh, your little brother is kicking up a storm. Umm.....Not now, Andy, I'm going to need your help. And yes, Jennybug, I guess a strike is like a vacation in some ways. In the olden days, people used to work very long hours for very mean people. Strikes allowed people to stand up to their bosses, to demand fair treatment.
Jenny: But those were the olden days, what about now?
Mommy: Well now, it seems like people strike when they aren't being paid enough. It's greedy, I guess.
Andy: Mommy, can I play with your iPhone?
Jenny: Stop interrupting, Andy! Grow up! So Mommy, people who strike should just work harder, right?
Mommy: Yes, baby. Ah, my feet are on fire. I need to sit down.
Jenny: I'm never going to strike, Mommy. I'll always be a hard worker!
Mommy (Sits down at the table): That's my girl. Jennybug, will you pass me the remote? I need to check the news.
Jenny: Ugh, where is Lupe? Make Lupe do it!
Mommy: Not now, Jenny. I already told you Lupe isn't coming in today. Do me this favor and don't be selfish.
Jenny: I'm not being selfish, I just can't find the remote and I think Lupe took it.
Mommy: (incredulous, exasperated): You think Lupe took the rem....Ok. Andy, can you please find the remote for Momm...
Andy: STRIKE!
Mommy: Well now, it seems like people strike when they aren't being paid enough. It's greedy, I guess.
Andy: Mommy, can I play with your iPhone?
Jenny: Stop interrupting, Andy! Grow up! So Mommy, people who strike should just work harder, right?
Mommy: Yes, baby. Ah, my feet are on fire. I need to sit down.
Jenny: I'm never going to strike, Mommy. I'll always be a hard worker!
Mommy (Sits down at the table): That's my girl. Jennybug, will you pass me the remote? I need to check the news.
Jenny: Ugh, where is Lupe? Make Lupe do it!
Mommy: Not now, Jenny. I already told you Lupe isn't coming in today. Do me this favor and don't be selfish.
Jenny: I'm not being selfish, I just can't find the remote and I think Lupe took it.
Mommy: (incredulous, exasperated): You think Lupe took the rem....Ok. Andy, can you please find the remote for Momm...
Andy: STRIKE!
I...can't...say I agree with the sentiment of this post.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that a lot of unions are out of control and need reforming (construction contractors are often brought to mind). But that doesn't mean people don't strike for a reason anymore. It's not greed - it's realizing you're doing a lot of work for a business that isn't doing you the justice of proper compensation for a job well done.
Without a populace that assembles for the interest of their rights, we have no power to bargain for fair treatment. This gets a lot more complicated when it comes to state workers, I realize. But I think teachers deserve everything they need to support themselves, given the importance of what they do and the standards they are charged with upholding. So long as they hold those standards (and I'm NOT talking about standardized testing), they should be compensated. You can't expect them to train the next generation for peanuts and the love of teaching.
"Though I disagree with what you say, I will defend to the death your right to say it"
ReplyDeleteI think my problem is the definition of what the teacher's union of Chicago defined as "proper compensation."
60k a year + benefits + four years of guaranteed income raises is far from "peanuts."
In the private sector, where many of us work, that is called "fantasyland."