A Massachusetts teachers union representing 117,000 teachers and faculty members at public schools and universities across the state is under fire for hosting a webinar that featured a professor who praised the &#8220;courage&#8221; of Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7. 
The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/massachusetts-teachers-association-board-member-accuses-israel-of-genocide-apartheid-and-ethnic-cleansing-claims-that-a-way-to-bring-peace-is-to-end-israel/">webinar</a> titled, “The Struggle Against Anti-Palestinian Racism,” featured three professors from the University of Massachusetts Boston, all of whom are anti-Israel activists. One of them, Leila Farsakh, <a href="https://www.newarab.com/opinion/israels-propaganda-us-media-motivated-fear">penned an op-ed</a> two weeks after Hamas’ attack praising its terrorists that raped, killed, and beheaded Israeli civilians.
“The courage of those who broke through the barbed wire, sailed by boat to return to their ancestral homes, or flew with their hang-gliders over the wall of the largest open-air prison has shown that Palestinians will continue to defy the gravity of settler colonialism to be free, whatever the cost,” Farsakh wrote.
“The facts unfolding on the ground have made it clear who the perpetrator is and who the victim is,” she added, referring to Israel as the perpetrator, before Israel entered Gaza in an attempt to find its hundreds of civilians taken hostage.
The webinar is the latest radical anti-Israel action by the union in the months since Hamas terrorists massacred more than 1,000 people in Israel. The MTA late last year <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/massachusetts-teachers-union-says-u-s-is-complicit-in-genocidal-assault-in-gaza">passed a resolution</a> accusing the United States of being complicit in a “genocidal assault.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW: A Massachusetts teachers union representing 100,000+ people hosted a webinar last week that tried to convince its audience that anti-Zionism and antisemitism have no correlation. <a href="https://t.co/opttqx2UXB">pic.twitter.com/opttqx2UXB</a>
&mdash; Kassy Akiva (@KassyDillon) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyDillon/status/1773022242097549695?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The webinar was crafted in conjunction with Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Semitic organization that <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/jewish-voice-peace-jvp-what-you-need-know">blamed Israel</a> for Hamas’ attack while it was still ongoing and stepped up its anti-Israel activism afterward,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/far-left-protesters-with-anti-semitic-group-storm-u-s-capitol-seeks-to-end-israel"> including storming</a> the U.S. Capitol.
Prior to the webinar, participants were asked if they felt supported by their schools when “teaching anti-Zionist narratives about Palestine,” according to a survey obtained by The Daily Wire.
<div class="mceTemp"></div>
<div id="attachment_714835" style="width: 303px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-714835" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-714835" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/MTA-Webinar-Palestinian-Question-1-293x576.jpeg" alt="" width="293" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/MTA-Webinar-Palestinian-Question-1-293x576.jpeg 293w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/MTA-Webinar-Palestinian-Question-1-153x300.jpeg 153w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/MTA-Webinar-Palestinian-Question-1.jpeg 718w" sizes="(max-width: 293px) 100vw, 293px" />Survey sent out ahead of MTA&#8217;s webinar on anti-Palestinian racism.</div>
At the webinar, presenters made it a focus to convince the audience that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism have no correlation. 
“How do we counter this unfair and misleading propaganda?” Gender Studies professor Heike Schotten said with a slide stating, “One of the biggest, most common, painful, and offensive ways this propaganda works is by attacking anyone who speaks out against Zionism as anti-Semitic.”
“Well, you know, all of us in the Zoom room are educators,” said Schotten, who according to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement&#8217;s website, has been active in anti-Israel activism <a href="https://bdsmovement.net/news/us-bds-activism-reaches-third-rail">since 2006</a>. “Education is and has always been central to movements for liberation and justice… and when we do this together, when we learn and teach and know about Zionism, both as settler colonialism and as a very well-funded propaganda effort, we realize that these claims about anti-Semitism are lies.”
Following the event, the Anti-Defamation League New England released a statement saying it was “deeply concerned by the framing” of the webinar. 
“By expressly rejecting anti-Zionism as a form of anti-Semitism and invoking frameworks of ‘colonialism and imperialism’ in a discussion regarding Israel/Palestine, this programming reinforces anti-Semitic and anti-Israel falsehoods.”
“Educational programming on topics such as Zionism and anti-Zionism, particularly where a stated goal is to better prepare educators for discussions in the classroom, must be subject to at least the same rigorous standards we would expect of any curriculum intended to be taught to our children,” the ADL added in its statement.
Jeremy Burton, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, <a href="https://www.jcrcboston.org/an-open-letter-regarding-recent-mass-teachers-association-activities/">accused members of the MTA</a> of using “pernicious and inflammatory rhetoric” and said messaging from the MTA in recent months played into “dehumanizing anti-Semitic tropes.”
Burton added that he took issue with the webinar “coupling concerns for anti-Palestinian racism with a campaign of anti-Zionism in classrooms.”
The webinar’s promotional materials stated that “anti-Palestinian racism too often goes unnoticed” because many teachers do not feel confident to speak about the complex topic of “Palestine” in classrooms.
<div id="attachment_714839" style="width: 453px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-714839" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-714839" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GIo5RRXW4AAXaBz-443x576.jpeg" alt="" width="443" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GIo5RRXW4AAXaBz-443x576.jpeg 443w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GIo5RRXW4AAXaBz-231x300.jpeg 231w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/GIo5RRXW4AAXaBz.jpeg 560w" sizes="(max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px" />Massachusetts Teachers Association&#8217;s promotional material for its &#8220;The Struggle Against Anti-Palestinian Racism&#8221; webinar.</div>
Brigitte Karns, a teacher and MTA dues-paying member, said she fears the school’s curriculum will be infused with anti-Semitism and anti-Israel teachings.
“We have major concerns that the end goal for the MTA is to implement this type of curriculum into classrooms across Massachusetts,” Karns told The Daily Wire. “They are looking to train teachers with dangerous material that will indoctrinate our students to be anti-Semitic.”
“The MTA should not be involved in geopolitical issues,” she added. “There have been many in the past with the same groups and they did not get involved.  Ukraine/Russia and they did not get involved.”
The MTA president <a href="https://massteacher.org/news/2024/03/uniondemocracy">defended the webinar</a> as an opportunity for dialogue and noted that it plans to host an upcoming event on anti-Semitism.
“I expect that there will be members in attendance who will agree wholeheartedly with what is presented; there will be members in attendance who could not disagree more,” Max Page said. “The particular viewpoints expressed in these individual workshops do not represent the official views of the MTA.”
Page added that he lost 18 family members during the Holocaust and that it has been difficult to be accused of anti-Semitism in recent months.
Arielle Kingsbury, who is an occupational therapist in a public school in the Greater Boston area and dues paying member of MTA, called the webinar “abhorrent.”
Kingsbury took issue with Schotten making the claim that Israel rules with “Jewish supremacy.”
“The webinar was biased and contradictory,” Kingsbury said. “They spoke about the history of the conflict but neglected to mention a lot of historical fact.”
MTA’s board of directors passed a resolution in December that accused Israel of committing genocide and the U.S. of being complicit, the Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/massachusetts-teachers-union-says-u-s-is-complicit-in-genocidal-assault-in-gaza">previously reported</a>.
“As an educators’ union, we must take a stand with our union siblings, and promote peace and justice in the region by calling for an end to our government’s complicity with Israel’s genocidal assault on the people of Gaza and intent to take over their territory,” the statement reads. “How many deaths, how many more children must die, before we take a stand? Silence is complicity,” it adds.
The ADL at the time, accused the resolution of camouflaging “an ill-founded attack on Israel.”
“At a minimum, the statement’s failure to explicitly and unconditionally condemn the Hamas attack call for the return of all remaining hostages or demand that any ceasefire include a commitment to remove Hamas — whose officials have reportedly vowed to repeat terrorist attacks like the one on October 7th until Israel is destroyed — as a controlling actor in Gaza is revealing,”  ADL chapter’s director, Dr. Jonah C. Steinberg said.
More than 57,000 Massachusetts teachers, students, and parents signed a <a href="https://israelusa.quorum.us/campaign/mtajewishsafety/">counter petition</a> to the resolution which demanded a public apology, a statement noting that only 34 MTA members voted in favor, and a motion to rescind the proposal. 
In the wake of the controversies, MTA’s board of directors was invited to a Lappin Foundation seminar this April about countering anti-Semitism in schools. Board member Joe Herosy rejected the invitation, claiming the foundation is part of the “Israel lobby.”
Herosy has been pushing anti-Israel rhetoric on <a href="https://archive.ph/f0iEN">his social media</a> in recent months, including sharing a cartoon of Hamas terrorists bulldozing into Israel just a day after the attack. 
UMass Boston and Joe Herosy did not respond to a request for comment.

TOPSHOT-education-FRANCE-SCHOOL

Massachusetts Teachers Union Hosts Webinar By Professor Who Praised Hamas, Enraging Membership

Education

Hamas

Israel

Massachusetts

Unions

The old arguments won’t work this time for United Teachers of Dade (UTD).
For a change, it isn’t the amen chorus in the mainstream media or the politicians bought and paid for with decades of union money UTD’s leaders have to convince. It’s the educators whose legitimate workplace concerns have consistently been ignored while the union used millions of their hard-earned dues dollars to line their own pockets and fund a diverse collection of failed liberal candidates and causes at the local and national level.
Even before conceding in mid-December what an independent audit had already confirmed − that less than 60% of those being represented by UTD thought enough of its services to actually pay for them − union president Karla Hernandez-Mats was in full cliché mode.
“Our collective strength will be the defense against these attacks,” she thundered. “And through our solidarity, we shall emerge victorious. The careers of our dedicated education workforce and the future of public education depend on our resilience and our unity.”
The perceived attack, of course, takes the form of a new law, Senate Bill 256, passed by the Florida legislature last summer that, among its other provisions, requires public employee unions to petition the state for a recertification election when their paid membership drops below 60% of the bargaining unit they claim to represent.
The Freedom Foundation has joined forces with a group of local teachers to create the <a href="https://www.educatemiami.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miami-Dade Education Coalition</a>, an alternative to the national teachers’ union that exists exclusively to serve teachers, and not politics. For months the group has been driving down UTD’s membership by offering an alternative option.
While simultaneously, after a solid year of arm-twisting, the UTD has been purging the union’s membership rolls of inactive members and even bribing potential recruits with <a href="https://www.freedomfoundation.com/florida/miami-dade-teachers-union-increasingly-desperate-offering-gift-cards-to-boost-membership/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon gift cards</a>, she claimed to have bumped the number up to 58.4%. 
But when UTD filed its annual registration with the state last month, it revealed UTD’s membership rate to be only 56%, indicating either that she was exaggerating UTD’s support or that the exodus has already begun in anticipation of the likely recertification election next year.
The only commodity less credible than the union’s numbers is its lamentations about having to justify its existence at all. Since its creation in 1974, UTD has been re-certified exactly never. Like a pope or Supreme Court justice, union officials believe they were appointed for life regardless of their standing with the rank and file.
They’re in for a revelation.
Predictably, Hernandez-Mats and other apologists for Big Labor characterize the current struggle as an invasion by out-of-state aggressors. But in reality, it is a civil war between the union and its own members, justifiably dissatisfied with the union’s misplaced priorities.
And with good reason. Last year alone, UTD − which is affiliated with both of the nation’s two large teachers’ unions, the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, and the AFL-CIO − spent 46% of its gross dues revenue on affiliation fees.
Based on annual dues of $984.60 per full-time teacher, UTD diverts almost half − an estimated $453 per year − to organizations that have no direct connection with their unique concerns.
Of the remaining balance, once you account for what UTD itself spends on local politics, the six or eight union officers earning in excess of $200,000 a year, lavish office space and overhead, plus first-class travel and other incidentals, the union is left with only a pittance to spend on its own members.
And it isn’t just guilt by association. Hernandez-Mats herself was Democrat Charlie Christ’s running mate in his failed 2020 run for governor against DeSantis, effectively eroding her claims to prioritize union business over partisan politics.
Indignant media projections about the looming certification election assume that even if UTD’s paid membership stands at 56%, it still has a comfortable margin because it only takes a simple majority to be reinstated. But that’s an apples-and-oranges comparison.
December’s audit tabulated the soft support of thousands of teachers who believed there was nothing they could do to prevent their paychecks from being preemptively lightened by nearly $1,000 a year. The certification election, however, will gauge how many actually want that relationship to continue and how many would rather see UTD disqualified and replaced with a newer, cheaper, less-political, more-accountable alternative.
The election won’t be about outside forces, faceless corporate interests or the usual labor boogeymen. It will be a referendum on UTD’s 50-year record of corruption, incompetence and indifference. 
 
If that’s what you had to stake your future on, you’d be desperate, too.
* * *
Aaron Withe is CEO of the <a href="https://www.freedomfoundation.com/">Freedom Foundation</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated the Freedom Foundation joined forces with a group of local teachers to create the United Teachers of Dade. They helped create the Miami-Dade Education Coalition, not the United Teachers of Dade. The article has been updated to reflect the change.

Florida Gov. DeSantis Signs Digital Bill of Rights

How A New Florida Law Is Shaking Up The State’s Largest Teachers’ Union

Florida

Leftists

Opinion

Readers Pass

Teachers Unions

The four largest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">public sector unions</a> spent nearly $700 million backing Democrats and leftist causes during last year&#8217;s elections, with nearly 60% of the funds coming from union dues, according to an analysis of spending by the Commonwealth Foundation.
Of the $708.8 million spent on politics during the 2022 midterm elections by the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), about 96% of the money went to Democrat political action committees or other leftist causes, the Commonwealth Foundation <a href="https://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/research/government-unions-fund-politics/">found</a>.
The four unions combined outspent the defense, transportation, and construction industries. “Any progressive organization that you can think of is probably getting something from the unions,” Commonwealth Foundation Senior Fellow for Labor Policy David Osborne told The Daily Wire.
Millions of union PAC dollars went toward leftist groups like For Our Future and dark money group the Sixteen Thirty Fund, as well as Democrat candidates like Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock and Pennsylvania Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro.
While it’s no surprise that unions overwhelmingly back Democrats and Democrat causes, Osborne that many union members likely didn’t know how much their dues were being spent on the “pet political projects” of union leaders rather than representation for members.
“What unions often try to hide is the fact that membership dues can also be used for politics,” he said. “The union doesn’t really have to tell membership what it’s [the money] going to go to. Doesn’t have to take a vote on it. By and large, what they do is, take all that money and then shovel a bunch of it over to a super-PAC, sometimes it’s affiliated with the union so that they can do all kinds of political spending that members may never find out about.”
According to the report, about 57% of the total money spent on politics by the unions came from union dues, while the rest came from state and federal PACs, which union members are encouraged to support.
“When employees learn that their dues are being used to fund political projects, that’s a value in and of itself. There are some things they can do as individuals to cut off the funding if they desire,” Osborne said.
The biggest beneficiary of union dollars was Shapiro, who raked in about $4,540,000 million from the PACs during his campaign for office, the Commonwealth Foundation found. Osborne told The Daily Wire that this number was “absolutely shocking,” pointing out that this amount was three times more than any other individual.
Shapiro <a href="https://www.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/2023/08/28/major-unions-ratify-contract-proposals-with-shapiro-administration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would</a> later negotiate with members of both the local SEIU and AFSCME, which included an increase in pay and benefits for union members.
Other top recipients of union money at the state level included California Attorney General Rob Bonta ($1,297,200), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson ($1,179,100), and failed Texas gubernatorial and 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke ($990,000).
<div id="attachment_666625" style="width: 1005px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-666625" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-666625 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-995x576.png" alt="" width="995" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-995x576.png 995w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-300x174.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-768x445.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-1536x890.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM.png 2022w" sizes="(max-width: 995px) 100vw, 995px" />Courtesy: The Commonwealth Foundation.</div>
At the federal level, union PACs gave significantly to Warnock ($60,500), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ($50,000), and failed Senate candidates Mandela Barnes ($45,000) and Tim Ryan ($42,000).
“In total, PACs tied to the four largest government unions contributed to 282 candidates for the House of Representatives. Of those, 273 were Democrats, seven were Republicans, one was a third-party candidate, and one was an independent,” the report says.
The report made note of the close ties between the unions and President Joe Biden, who has billed himself as the most &#8220;pro-union&#8221; president ever. &#8220;During the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden&#8217;s Centers for Disease Control directly adopted language suggestions from the AFT into the organization&#8217;s school reopening guidelines,&#8221; the report notes.
Text messages <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texts-show-teachers-union-working-with-cdc-director-to-keep-schools-closed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed earlier this year</a> showed AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA President Becky Pringle texting with former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky about school reopening policies.
<div id="attachment_666631" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-666631" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-666631 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-1024x544.png" alt="" width="1024" height="544" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-1024x544.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-300x159.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-768x408.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-1536x815.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-2048x1087.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Courtesy: The Commonwealth Foundation.</div>
A variety of Democrat-leaning PACs and leftist organizations also pulled in a significant amount of money from union spending. For example, the unions gave a whopping $29,138,171 to the SEIU Political Education and Action Fund, a PAC that primarily backs Democrats for federal office and $13 million to the State Engagement Fund, a Left-wing dark money group. The Senate Majority PAC and the House Majority PAC, which support Democratic majorities in Congress, both received millions of dollars from the union PACs.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
The report found that the union political spending favored Democrats in every state but Alabama, Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The states with the most union political spending were Illinois ($27.9 million), California ($24.9), Minnesota ($13.2 million), Pennsylvania ($12.1 million), and Washington ($7.5 million).
“Armed with millions of members and numerous special privileges, the four largest unions have dedicated significant financial resources toward maintaining and expanding the legal structures from which they derive their power,” the report says, pointing out that union-backed candidates performed well during the midterms, and states like California continue to expand union privileges.
“Government unions use this power not only to advance leftist causes but also to elect political leaders who will protect their interests and influence. The result, unfortunately, is that federal, state, and local governments are increasingly led by politicians who care more about union executives than union members or taxpayers,” Osborne said.

Gubernatorial Candidate Josh Shapiro Campaigns With John Fetterman In Philadelphia

Gov Unions Spent Over Half A Billion Dollars Backing Democrats, The Left During Midterm Elections: Report

2022 Midterms

General

Joe Biden

Josh Shapiro

Labor Unions

Politics

Raphael Warnock

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

spending

Former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> slammed President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> on Tuesday over his electric vehicle push, saying his policies would destroy the American auto industry. 
Trump&#8217;s comments come ahead of a planned appearance at a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michigan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a> auto parts manufacturing plant on Wednesday evening, where he will speak to workers. On Tuesday, Biden made a brief appearance in Michigan, joining the picket line with workers from the United Auto Workers union who have been striking for nearly two weeks. 
“Joe Biden&#8217;s draconian and indefensible Electric Vehicle mandate will annihilate the U.S. auto industry and cost countless thousands of autoworkers their jobs. The only thing Biden could say today that would help the striking autoworkers is to announce the immediate termination of his ridiculous mandate,” Trump said in a <a href="https://djt.nucleusemail.com/amplify/v/j9qQWR6NZg?hids=E2gue4r&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=ncl_amplify&amp;utm_campaign=230926-statement_by_donald_j_trump_45th_president_of_the_united_states_duplicate&amp;utm_content=ncl-djhpq8YZhu&amp;_nlid=djhpq8YZhu&amp;_nhids=E2gue4r" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. 
The Biden administration has aggressively pushed a “transition” from gas-fueled cars to electric vehicles, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/biden-administration-aims-2-bln-grants-us-electric-vehicle-transition-2023-06-28/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allocating</a> billions of dollars toward electric vehicle manufacturing, with the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/04/17/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-private-and-public-sector-investments-for-affordable-electric-vehicles/#:~:text=Federal%20Government&amp;text=President%20Biden's%20Federal%20Sustainability%20Plan,duty%20ZEVs%20annually%20by%202035." target="_blank" rel="noopener">goal</a> of making electric vehicles half of all new vehicle sales nationwide by 2030. 
“Anything else is just a feeble and insulting attempt to distract American labor from this vicious Biden betrayal,&#8221; Trump’s statement continued. &#8220;Crooked Joe should be ashamed to show his face before these hardworking Americans he is stabbing in the back. With Biden, it doesn’t matter what hourly wages they get, in three years there will be no autoworker jobs as they will all come out of China and other countries. With me, there will be jobs and wages like you’ve never seen before. Our economy will grow!” 
Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/09/26/remarks-by-president-biden-at-united-auto-workers-picket-line/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared</a> with UAW President Shawn Fain during his visit to the picket line on Tuesday, saying that the workers should receive higher pay. Not all workers were thrilled to see Biden, with some referencing his electric vehicle push. 
&#8220;He hasn&#8217;t really shown us anything. He&#8217;s giving companies all these big incentives to push towards electric vehicles and it&#8217;s going to eliminate our jobs as UAW members,&#8221; Jason Richards, a forklift operator at a Ford plant, <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/among-michigans-striking-autoworkers-a-tepid-welcome-for-union-joe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Washington Free Beacon. &#8220;It takes a whole lot less people to build an electric vehicle than a gas-powered vehicle.&#8221;
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-66706">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
Biden announced his visit to the picket line days after Trump said he would forgo the second presidential debate to speak to auto workers in Michigan. Fain has been critical of Trump, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/united-auto-workers-president-blasts-trump-ahead-michigan-visit-rcna117563#:~:text=Trump%20will%20fly%20to%20Michigan,workers%20on%20the%20picket%20line." target="_blank" rel="noopener">claiming</a> he “serves a billionaire class and that&#8217;s what&#8217;s wrong with this country.”
When <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/autoworkers-strike-expands-ahead-of-expected-appearances-from-trump-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously</a> asked about the strike, Trump, who has long been critical of the U.S. economic relationship with China, said that the workers had been “sold down the river by their leadership” and that they should support him.

Donald Trump Speaks In South Carolina As He Campaigns For President

Trump Says Biden Policies Will ‘Annihilate’ American Auto Industry Ahead Of Michigan Appearance

Donald Trump

Elections

Electric cars

electric vehicles

Michigan

The writers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/strike">strike</a> which has dragged on for 148 days has come to an end as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/writers-guild-of-america">WGA</a> (Writers Guild of America) agreed to a deal.
Governing boards for the union voted to accept a new contract on Tuesday, effectively ending the strike and allowing writers to get back to work beginning at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
“The WGAW Board and WGAE Council also voted to lift the restraining order and end the strike as of 12:01 am PT/3:01 am ET on Wednesday, September 27th. This allows writers to return to work during the ratification process, but does not affect the membership’s right to make a final determination on contract approval,” the WGA wrote in a statement.
The three-year agreement addresses the main areas of concern for the union, including increased compensation, guaranteed length of employment, mandated writer&#8217;s room staff minimums, and protections against the use of AI (artificial intelligence). 
The contract won’t be officially accepted until it&#8217;s ratified by union members following a voting period from October 2 until October 9. If certain portions aren’t passed, the strike could resume.
Specifically, the contract guarantees 5% raises in the first year, 4% raises in the second year, and 3.5% in the third. Health fund contributions will increase to 12% of the companies’ reportable earnings, per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/business/wga-back-to-work/index.html">CNN</a>, and writers working on the same script will no longer need to split pension and health contributions.
The outlet noted that for big streaming projects, including feature-length productions with a budget of at least $30 million, writer compensation will increase 18% to $100,000 minimum. Writers will also receive an increased percentage of residual pay for streaming projects they&#8217;ve worked on, and companies agreed to be more transparent about reporting viewership numbers.
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
As for the AI concerns, the document states that “AI can’t write or rewrite literary material.” 
Despite the agreement, Hollywood can’t get back up and running like normal until the SAG-AFTRA strike is also resolved. That union went on strike beginning July 14.
A SAG-AFTRA spokesperson said the union is “reviewing the WGA’s tentative agreement and are committed to achieving a fair and just deal for our members.”
“We remain on strike in our TV/Theatrical/Streaming contract and will inform our members when there is negotiations news to share. We will not speculate regarding schedule or next steps,” the spokesperson told CNN.

WGA strike

Writers Strike Ends With Deal Involving Pay Raise, Streaming Bonuses, And Protection Against AI

Economy

Hollywood

strike

U.S.

Writer's Guild of America

SAG-AFTRA members on Monday voted 98% in favor of authorizing a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/strike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strike</a> against ten major <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/video-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video game</a> companies. 
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union</a> is currently on strike against the TV and film industry, as is the WGA (Writers Guild of America), which has resulted in a total Hollywood shutdown. The WGA went on strike beginning May 2, while SAG-AFTRA&#8217;s work stoppage began July 14.
Now, the video game industry is under the spotlight as another potential strike looms. The union’s last strike against the gaming companies lasted 183 days in 2016 and 2017, per a Deadline <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/09/sag-aftra-approve-strike-video-game-industry-1235555756/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>.
“It’s time for the video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement. 
Monday&#8217;s vote gives the national board the authority to call a strike. It doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean it will happen.
“The result of this vote shows our membership understands the existential nature of these negotiations, and that the time is now for these companies — which are making billions of dollars and paying their CEOs lavishly — to give our performers an agreement that keeps performing in video games as a viable career,” Drescher continued.
Many of the union&#8217;s demands are similar to those requested by writers and actors striking against the studios, centered on compensation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
“After five rounds of bargaining, it has become abundantly clear that the video game companies aren’t willing to meaningfully engage on the critical issues: compensation undercut by inflation, unregulated use of AI, and safety,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said. 
“I remain hopeful that we will be able to reach an agreement that meets members’ needs, but our members are done being exploited, and if these corporations aren’t willing to offer a fair deal, our next stop will be the picket lines.”
Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers party to the Interactive Media Agreement, said they are working hard to work out a deal and avoid another strike.
“We will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement that reflects the important contributions of SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in video games. We have reached tentative agreements on over half of the proposals and are optimistic we can find a resolution at the bargaining table,” she said in a statement to The Daily Wire.  
Both sides are reportedly set to resume negotiations on Tuesday.

Video games

SAG-AFTRA Members Vote To Authorize Strike Against Video Game Industry

Video Games

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-union-president-says-auto-workers-feel-abandoned-by-the-democratic-party-as-union-criticizes-bidens-ev-push" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Auto Workers</a> announced a strike against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ford-motor-co" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ford</a>, General Motors, and Stellantis, as the union demands higher wages and “economic and social justice.”
Around 13,000 auto workers <a href="https://apnews.com/article/auto-uaw-workers-strike-gm-ford-stellantis-7ce3ca9d94b911250d07556b7af376c7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stopped working</a> as picketing began outside a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan; a GM assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri; and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio. The strike comes after weeks of negotiations between the union and leadership at the automakers. 
“We didn’t want to be here. We want a fair agreement. We want fair economic and social justice for our members. That’s what this is all about. And it’s a shame,” <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/live-blog/uaw-strike-ford-general-motors-stellantis-live-updates-rcna105134" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Shawn Fain, president of the auto workers union. 
The strike is currently only targeted at three factories as the UAW pushes for a 36% pay bump over a four-year period for workers. Ford and GM said they could do 20% and Stellantis put forth a 17.5% increase over four years, according to the Associated Press. 
Other demands by the union are a 32-hour work week with pay for 40 hours, pensions for new employees, and inflation-based pay bumps. 
Prior to the strike, GM outlined that, in addition to the 20% pay increase over four years, the company would add “inflation protection,” increase its contributions to retirement health care savings by 25%, and increase vacation time. GM CEO Mary Barra <a href="https://www.gmnegotiations2023.com/public/us/en/negotiations/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> the offer as a “compelling and unprecedented economic package.” 
President Joe Biden, who <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/09/05/uaw-strike-likely-detroit-automakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predicted</a> that a strike would not take place, will reportedly discuss the standoff sometime on Friday. 
&#8220;No, I&#8217;m not worried about a strike until it happens. I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s going to happen,” Biden said on Labor Day. 
Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of Job Creators Network, slammed Biden in a statement after the strike, saying that the president was in part responsible for the strike.
&#8220;President Biden is partly responsible for the economically damaging UAW strike because Bidenflation has caused declining real wages and living standards for ordinary workers, resulting in UAW taking this drastic action to swing the wage pendulum in the other direction. Biden&#8217;s pro-union rhetoric, including calling himself the most pro-union president in history, has also contributed to the UAW overplaying its hand with ridiculous compensation demands that threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers, thousands of small businesses that service the big three automakers, and even the automakers themselves,&#8221; Ortiz said.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
Ford said that a strike “could have wide-ranging consequences for our business and the economy. It also impacts the very 57,000 UAW-Ford workers we are trying to reward with this contract.”
Stellantis, who had about 5,800 employees in Ohio stop work making the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator, said it was “disappointed” by the strike. 
&#8220;We are extremely disappointed by the UAW leadership’s refusal to engage in a responsible manner to reach a fair agreement in the best interest of our employees, their families and our customers,&#8221; a statement from Stellantis said. &#8220;We immediately put the Company in contingency mode and will take all the appropriate structural decisions to protect our North American operations and the Company,” the company added.

United Auto Workers Hold Limited Strikes As Contract Negotiations Expire

Workers Walk Out At Three Major Auto Factories After Biden Predicted Strike Wouldn’t Happen

Ford Motor Co.

General Motors

Missouri

Ohio

Auto workers in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michigan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a> are preparing to go on strike for higher wages at three major U.S. carmakers as the United Auto Workers (UAW) union criticizes President Joe Biden’s handouts for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/as-auto-strike-looms-biden-admin-announces-15-5-billion-for-electric-vehicle-manufacturers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">electric vehicle industry</a>.
The UAW <a href="https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2023/09/14/live-updates-uaw-strike-looms-hours-before-contracts-expire-with-big-three-automakers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> workers at General Motors, Ford, and Stellanits deserve a pay raise of 36%, and unless the union can come to an agreement with the automakers by midnight Thursday, the auto workers will go on strike. Not all of the UAW’s criticisms are directed at Detroit’s three major automakers; the union is also upset with the Biden administration and the Democratic Party for its subsidies to the electric vehicle industry, warning that the rush to push EVs is overlooking the security and protection of the American auto worker.
“UAW members feel abandoned by the Democratic Party,” former UAW President Bob King <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/13/biden-labor-ally-threatening-energy-agenda-00115415" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> POLITICO in an interview, saying that Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has failed to benefit union workers. “I think there’s a segment of the Democratic Party that sees itself as serving corporations rather than the common good. … We’ve had a lot of disappointments.”
POLITICO reported that most of the energy investments made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act are flowing away from Michigan and to more Republican-led <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/13/biden-inflation-reduction-act-climate-states-00110940" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a>, such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. The UAW is also concerned that it will lose members when motor companies invest even more into EVs as EVs usually have fewer parts than gas-powered cars.
The UAW is withholding an endorsement of Biden as it waits to hear back from the administration. UAW President Shawn Fain demanded the Biden administration give the UAW assurances that union workers will be protected as the federal government pushes for higher EV production. Biden, who <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/09/08/remarks-by-president-biden-in-honor-of-labor-unions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">describes</a> himself as the “most pro-union president&#8221; in history, received the endorsement of the UAW in 2020 as the union typically backs any candidate with a “D” next to their name, but the UAW president said Biden has some more to prove before he gets an endorsement for 2024.
“Actions are going to dictate endorsements, so we’ll see how things continue to play out, and we have a lot of issues to resolve,” Fain <a href="https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cg/date/2023-09-11/segment/02" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN’s Jake Tapper earlier this week. “There’s a lot with the EV transition that has to happen, and there’s hundreds of billions of our taxpayer dollars that are helping fund this, and workers cannot continue to be left behind in that equation.”
Ever since taking over in the White House in 2021, Biden has strongly pushed for the U.S. to ramp up electric vehicle production in the name of green energy. The White House is <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/04/17/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-private-and-public-sector-investments-for-affordable-electric-vehicles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investing</a> in the car industry with the hopes of getting EV sales to make up half of all new vehicle sales by 2030, subsidizing American car companies to help the administration reach its goal.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1694795611368000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1Bn_6SbXWWKvlIyIet4nSO">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Earlier this year, Ford <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ford-gets-9-2-billion-loan-from-biden-admin-for-ev-battery-factories-biggest-check-since-2009-bailouts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">received</a> the largest government check for an automaker since the 2009 bailouts thanks to a $9.2 billion loan intended to help construct three electric vehicle battery plants in the U.S. The Biden administration and Motor Company continue to push EVs even as Ford <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ford-loses-billions-on-electric-cars-embraces-hybrids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it expects to lose $4.5 billion from its EV division this year.

Former Union President Says Auto Workers ‘Feel Abandoned By The Democratic Party’ As Union Criticizes Biden’s EV Push

Former Union President Says Auto Workers 'Feel Abandoned By The Democratic Party' As Union Criticizes Biden's EV Push

Auto Companies

Biden Administration

Executive

Inflation Reduction Act

Thousands of Los Angeles city workers plan to halt municipal operations for at least 24 hours on Tuesday after they say city administrators fell short of addressing employee resources and hiring more staff.
SEIU Local 721, which represents more than 98,000 county and city employees across Southern California, announced last weekend it plans to protest city management and other &#8220;unfair labor practices restricting employee and union rights,&#8221; according to a statement from union officials reported by ABC7.  At least 11,000 plan to participate in the one-day strike.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to shut down the city of Los Angeles,&#8221; David Green, SEIU Local 721 executive director and president, told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/08/06/over-11000-la-workers-plan-strike-hoping-shut-down-city/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>. &#8220;The message we&#8217;re sending is that our workers are just fed up. They&#8217;ve reached a breaking point. And we need these folks in the city to come back to the table for the good of the city.&#8221;
Green reportedly told City News Service the protest would include more than 30 strike lines made up of sanitation workers, mechanics, traffic officers, engineers, and others. He added to The Post the move comes after &#8220;bad faith bargaining&#8221; by city officials.
&#8220;Sanitation alone has over 900 vacancies,&#8221; Green said. &#8220;Unfortunately, some of the people that work in City Hall are these out-of-touch administrators. And we&#8217;ve been sounding the alarm for years. So we&#8217;re saying, come back to the table.&#8221;
&#8220;We are going to be throughout the entire city striking to send a message that the city&#8217;s broken the law,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They need to come back to the table, they need to fill these vacancies, and they need to listen to the concerns of the public.&#8221;
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
Green said that Los Angeles residents could experience a lack of services — from trash pickup to Los Angeles Airport security — on Tuesday. The union expects picket lines to start forming around 4:00 a.m. and workers to meet at City Hall for a march and rally at 11:00 a.m.
Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass told ABC7 on Saturday that city workers are vital to the local economy, and officials were available to negotiate.
&#8220;They deserve fair contracts and we have been bargaining in good faith with SEIU 721 since January,&#8221; said Bass. &#8220;The City will always be available to make progress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.&#8221;
A historic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/studios-load-up-on-ai-specialists-as-actors-writers-remain-on-picket-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strike</a> involving Hollywood actors and writers has also dragged into its second month.

Presser at LAC+USC Medical Center. Two bargaining units of SEIU Local 721 representing roughly 7,000 frontline employees, including nurses and nurse practitioners, are announcing plans at a press conference for a three-day strike beginning on June 1st. Th

Thousands Of Los Angeles City Workers To Strike, Vow To ‘Shut City Down’

Thousands Of Los Angeles Union Workers Vow To 'Shut City Down' In Planned Strike

California

Karen Bass

Los Angeles

The following is the opening satirical monologue from “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1131-we-can-beat-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show.</a>”
As you know, we Hollywood writers are on strike right now. And you may be saying to yourself: “Oh no! Who will take our favorite childhood cartoon characters and transform them into sexually deviant groomers so that the minds and lives of our own children can be destroyed by the very franchises we had come to love and trust?” And yes, that is a problem, but the fact is the corrupt, greedy industry moguls who have been pumping toxic and immoral sludge into our culture for the last sixty years aren’t paying us enough to write the scripts.
Now, if the strike continues too long, screen content may start to dry up, and some of you may be forced to seek your entertainment elsewhere, like in great novels or conversation with your friends or classic old films on TCM or even just quietly reading the Bible to yourself until you never want to watch another morally repugnant modern movie ever again and may even be inspired to hunt down every Hollywood content creator of any kind whatsoever and tie his shoelaces together while he’s napping so that when he wakes up and gets to his feet, he falls over and cracks his head open and gets to feel what it’s like for the rest of us to watch a modern American movie.
In order to prevent that from happening, I personally would like to ban the Bible before you find out what’s in it, but there’s just too many damn copies out there, so instead, I’ll try to divert your attention by giving you a rundown of the great, great content we’re just waiting to write for you as soon as we can get the miserable capitalist pigs who are destroying our culture to pay us fairly for helping them.
One upcoming movie we have in the pipeline is the latest entry in the most popular DC franchise, “Superman.” In this sequel, the man of steel rushes to Metropolis to destroy a swarm of murderous invaders and is then charged with first degree manslaughter by Metropolis District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
We’re also planning a modern take on the 1970’s Watergate blockbuster &#8220;All the President’s Men&#8221; in which once again, a sleazy and untrustworthy presidential candidate is exposed dragging our government agencies into a series of despicable dirty campaign tricks, until the intrepid reporters of the Washington Post cover the story up.
Then we’re rebooting the great &#8220;Lord of the Rings&#8221; trilogy. In film one, Frodo fights through Orcs to reach Mount Doom until he’s charged with first degree manslaughter by Mordor District Attorney Alvin Bragg. In the sequel, George Soros mysteriously becomes invisible, then later turns up as a corrupt, twisted, deformed blue creature of darkness who contributes to Bragg’s reelection campaign. The final film details the war between Soros and an army of conservatives, who want to destroy the corrupt, twisted, deformed creature of darkness because they just don’t like Bluish people.
In the whodunit genre, we’ll be rolling out &#8220;Moonlight Two&#8221; in which a homosexual black detective tries to solve the mystery of how a film can win an Oscar when literally no one has ever seen it.
Unfortunately, Anthony Hopkins has grown too old to play Hannibal Lecter, but we have attached Denzel Washington to star as the cannibal serial killer who cooks and eats a census taker’s liver with fava beans and a fine chianti and is then charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with cooking over an open flame without a permit.
The Marvel Universe will continue to expand with &#8220;Native American Panther.&#8221; In this brilliant epic of virtue signaling and racial pandering, history is rewritten when Native Americans develop the world&#8217;s greatest culture after a space rock falls on them and magically turns them into Europeans. Superhero Native American Panther then sets out to spread the gift to the world until he realizes that Native Americans never invented the wheel so he can’t go anywhere.
And finally, in a real life sequel to 2011’s pandemic thriller &#8220;Contagion,&#8221; a fast spreading flu virus threatens to kill 80-year-olds until heroic government doctor Anthony Fauci destroys the economy, strips Americans of their civil rights, ruins the lives of children and then sets out to try to solve the mystery of why the disease caused so much damage to society.
So — there are great films coming your way as soon as we can get back to work in the movie industry. Meanwhile, stop reading the Bible or there won’t be a movie industry.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andrew Klavan</a> is the host of The Andrew Klavan Show at The Daily Wire. A popular political satirist and Hollywood screenwriter, Klavan is also an award-winning novelist. His newest novel is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Habit-Mind-Cameron-Mysteries/dp/1613163517/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Strange Habit of Mind</a>, book two in the Cameron Winter Mystery series.
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US-ENTERTAINMENT-TELEVISION-FILM-STRIKES-AI

Hollywood Writers Strike Delays New And Exciting Woke Garbage

Andrew Klavan

Movies

Satire

A Connecticut state trooper who charged that the State Police Union (CSPU) and Department of Emergency Services (DESPP) demoted him from a prestigious position for refusing to join the union membership and contribute to its politics <a href="https://www.nrtw.org/news/mercer-cspu-settlement-04282023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won</a> a $260,500 settlement.
State Trooper Joseph Mercer, whose case was represented by staff attorneys at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, was appointed Operations Sergeant of the Emergency Services Unit in May 2015. The next month, CSPU President Andrew Matthews filed two grievances targeting Mercer, one stating no “selection process” had been implemented to fill the position and another alleging Mercer had mismanaged an incident involving an armed suspect. In October 2015, Matthews reportedly met with Dora Schriro, then the Commissioner of the DESPP; Schriro subsequently transferred Mercer to an administrative post.
Mercer filed suit in 2016. In May 2022, a district court ordered DESPP Commissioner James Rovella, Schriro’s replacement, to turn over additional discovery.
“We at the Foundation are proud to have defended Sergeant Mercer’s rights and secured him a settlement that vindicates his free association,” National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix stated. “However, it’s disgraceful that CSPU union officials targeted Mercer, a dedicated public safety officer, with such a vicious retribution scheme in the first place. Public servants should not have to endure multi-year lawsuits just so they can refrain from supporting union politics they oppose.”
“Situations like these demonstrate why the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME decision, which the U.S. Supreme Court decided while Mercer’s case was ongoing, is so important,” Mix added. “As was obvious in Mercer’s case, unelected public sector union bosses often wield their enormous clout over government to serve the union’s private interests over the public interest. That’s why it’s vital that public employees can exercise their First Amendment Janus right to cut off all financial support of union bosses who are contorting government in this way.”
In late June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in <a href="https://standwithworkers.org/s/Janus-v-AFSCME-Decision.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Janus v. AFSCME</a> that non-union government workers could not be forced to pay union fees in order to work in public service jobs. Millions of teachers, first responders and other government workers were affected.
Plaintiff Mark Janus <a href="https://libertyjusticecenter.org/cases/janus-v-afscme/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reacted</a>, “I’m thrilled that the Supreme Court has restored not only my First Amendment rights, but the rights of millions of other government workers across the country. So many of us have been forced to pay for political speech and policy positions with which we disagree, just so we can keep our jobs. This is a victory for all of us. The right to say ‘no’ to a union is just as important as the right to say ‘yes.’ Finally our rights have been restored.”

Stack of 100 Dollar Bill Paper Currency

State Trooper Gets $260,000 Settlement After Demotion For Not Joining Police Union

Connecticut

Police

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/teachers-unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Federation of Teachers</a> President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/randi-weingarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Randi Weingarten</a> contended that her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union</a> neither extended the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/school-lockdowns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lockdowns</a> which shuttered government schools for several months nor improperly helped the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cdc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CDC</a> draft their pandemic response policies.
Weingarten, who is scheduled to testify on Wednesday before members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic about her organization’s conduct amid the pandemic, said in prepared <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Prepared-Statement-of-AFT-President-Randi-Weingarten.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarks</a> that the entire hearing is based on a “faulty” and “patently false” assertion that the union wielded its influence with Democrats to keep schools closed even after data indicated that young children were at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/only-2-of-childrens-deaths-were-from-covid-and-school-closures-didnt-reduce-the-number" target="_blank" rel="noopener">minimal</a> risk from COVID.
“Even before COVID-19, we knew that kids learn best in person, and that remote, hybrid and simultaneous instruction are not adequate substitutes,” she told lawmakers. “Being in school is essential to children’s academic, social and emotional well-being. We know this not as a matter for study or the grist for a congressional investigation. We know this because we live it every day.”
Weingarten claimed that the AFT “acted quickly” to implement “science-based measures needed to resume in-person schooling safely.” The union, however, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/five-cities-where-teachers-unions-are-keeping-schools-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> a strike days ahead of a planned reopening of District of Columbia Public Schools in February 2021, even as Weingarten insisted that her organization was “not trying to stand in the way of reopening.” As late as July 2021, Weingarten <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-claims-schools-reopened-in-spite-of-republicans-here-are-several-videos-of-democrats-defending-closed-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remained</a> cagey on school lockdowns and insisted that increasing vaccination rates was necessary to “keep kids safe” and “keep our members safe.”
She instead blamed former President Donald Trump, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, suggesting that those officials were responsible for school closures in her Wednesday remarks because they did not implement the health measures the AFT deemed necessary.
“We knew that the safety protocols we advocated for were not an obstacle to reopening schools, as some officials claimed at the time,” she continued. “Health and safety protocols were the pathway for students and staff to get back to school and stay in school and to create trust throughout the school community.”
Weingarten additionally claimed that polls now show parents believe “schools acted appropriately in pivoting to remote and hybrid learning and back to in-person learning.” The school lockdowns, however, drove unprecedented learning loss among children who attended government schools: average reading scores <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nations-report-card-indicates-worst-decline-in-math-and-reading-scores-in-decades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plummeted</a> five points and average mathematics scores dropped seven points among 9-year-olds who took the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Parents have since responded to disruptions in the nation’s education system, which also included the spread of radical gender theory and other Left-wing ideologies, over the past three years by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/is-the-right-to-homeschooling-under-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">homeschooling</a> their children at record levels, a phenomenon which Weingarten <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/extremist-scheme-teachers-union-boss-blasts-education-reforms-homeschooling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> an “extremist scheme” to “erode trust in public schools by stoking fear and division.”
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1682517572037000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0eoxTLnzKr3rl49f2LXGnU">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
The AFT also provoked controversy after House Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-gave-teachers-union-unprecedented-access-to-shape-national-covid-19-guidelines-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> that the CDC offered Weingarten and other union officials “unprecedented access” to view and shape pandemic response guidelines, a privilege that the officials reportedly used to implement a “trigger” provision that would cause schools to automatically close should COVID test positivity rates reach certain thresholds. Weingarten claimed on Wednesday that the involvement of the AFT in crafting public health policies was “completely fitting and proper” since the CDC should be expected to “consult with education groups.”
“Not surprisingly, the CDC would want to consult with the leadership of the country’s largest teachers union to consider our insights, expertise and suggestions on a strategy that would directly affect our membership in matters of life and death,” she asserted. “AFT leadership was keenly aware of the hopes and fears of our members, whose trust and acceptance were necessary for the success of any operational strategy.”

Randi Weingarten

Teacher Union Boss Randi Weingarten Denies Group Delayed School Openings Or Wrongly Meddled With CDC Guidelines

Teacher Union Boss Denies Group Delayed School Openings Or Meddled With CDC Guidelines

School Lockdowns

Menu