Rich leaders of NEA, AFT and CTA endorse Occupy protests
By Steve Gunn
EAG Communications
LOS ANGELES – Earlier this week we released an “EAG Focus” story on teachers unions around the nation endorsing and joining the Occupy protests.
We believe it’s just another example of the unions ignoring the problems within their profession, while pursuing left-wing, radical political causes every chance they get.
After publication of the story, we came across a beautiful piece written by John Seiler on his CalWatchDog.com website.
Using data provided by Los Angeles-based reformer Larry Sand, Seiler ran the names and incomes of several teachers unions officials through a “What percent are you?” calculator. The goal was to determine whether they belong with the Occupy crowd, or if they’re really part of the snooty one percent that doesn’t pay enough taxes.
Guess what? Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, made $543,868 last year in salary and benefits. That puts him in the hated top one percent. As Seiler put it, by joining the Occupy movement, Van Roekel “is protesting against himself.”
Then there’s Rhonda (Randi) Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. She made a cool $493,859, which puts her in the top two percent of wage earners. ”A real working-class person,” Seiler wrote about Weingarten. “Salt of the Earth. Has trouble feeding herself.”
Also on the list of Occupy supporters is David Sanchez, president of the very radical California Teachers Association. He made $289,550, which puts him in the top four percent.
Let’s also remember that the Occupy protesters hate large corporations for gathering so much wealth without paying higher taxes. Well, the NEA collected $397 million during the 2010-11 fiscal year, while the AFT collected $211 million. They got most of it through forced union dues, and not a dime of it can be taxed!
As blogger RiShawn Biddle put it, “When one adds in the revenue collected by their (local and state) affiliates, the two unions are billion-dollar organizations with budgets that match their corporate peers.”
Does that make Big Labor as greedy and deplorable as Big Business?
We believe it’s just another example of the unions ignoring the problems within their profession, while pursuing left-wing, radical political causes every chance they get.
After publication of the story, we came across a beautiful piece written by John Seiler on his CalWatchDog.com website.
Using data provided by Los Angeles-based reformer Larry Sand, Seiler ran the names and incomes of several teachers unions officials through a “What percent are you?” calculator. The goal was to determine whether they belong with the Occupy crowd, or if they’re really part of the snooty one percent that doesn’t pay enough taxes.
Guess what? Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, made $543,868 last year in salary and benefits. That puts him in the hated top one percent. As Seiler put it, by joining the Occupy movement, Van Roekel “is protesting against himself.”
Then there’s Rhonda (Randi) Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. She made a cool $493,859, which puts her in the top two percent of wage earners. ”A real working-class person,” Seiler wrote about Weingarten. “Salt of the Earth. Has trouble feeding herself.”
Also on the list of Occupy supporters is David Sanchez, president of the very radical California Teachers Association. He made $289,550, which puts him in the top four percent.
Let’s also remember that the Occupy protesters hate large corporations for gathering so much wealth without paying higher taxes. Well, the NEA collected $397 million during the 2010-11 fiscal year, while the AFT collected $211 million. They got most of it through forced union dues, and not a dime of it can be taxed!
As blogger RiShawn Biddle put it, “When one adds in the revenue collected by their (local and state) affiliates, the two unions are billion-dollar organizations with budgets that match their corporate peers.”
Does that make Big Labor as greedy and deplorable as Big Business?
