The Los Angeles Magazine profile of United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz had some truly amazing quotes in it that deserved all the attention they got.
These include, “It’s OK that our babies may not have learned all their times tables. They learned resilience. … They know the words insurrection and coup,” and “here’s the trouble: You can recall the governor. You can recall the school board. But how are you going to recall me?”
But I thought the most telling quotes actually came from Myart-Cruz’s predecessor, Alex Caputo-Pearl, as he explained the new direction that he took the union in 2014:
The UTLA is not the only union that has taken a hard left into a broader range of issues beyond seeking higher wages for their members. Climate change, amnesty, and racial justice are all key pillars of what Big Labor spends its members’ dues on now.
But do workers in America want their union dues going to far-left causes such as amnesty?
Not according to a new poll by American Compass and YouGov of working age (18-65) adults. American Compass found that “by a three-to-one margin, potential union members (part- or full-time employees who work 30 or more hours per week at private, for-profit companies in non-supervisory roles) say they would prefer a worker organization that focuses only on workplace issues to one that is also engaged in national political issues.”
Asked specifically which issues they would like a union to speak out on, only 25% of potential union members named “racial justice,” and just 12% said “helping undocumented immigrants.”
Progressives may counter-argue that Caputo-Pearl and Myart-Cruz were both elected to their posts by union membership, so the members must approve of their money being spent on issues other than higher wages. But as the LA Magazine piece notes, turnout for union elections is extremely low. Just 16% of union members cast ballots in Myart-Cruz’s election.
And Myart-Cruz loves to brand anyone who opposes her as a racist. One parent who opposed Myart-Cruz later received an email from the school district asking about her racial identity. “I felt almost violated, like they were bullying me. It was clear to me that Cecily Myart-Cruz made this whole thing into some sort of racial war,” the parent said.
Very few people want to see their workplaces turned into a battlefield for a progressive race war. And that is why organized labor continues to shrink in this country.
