Teachers exploited

Unions must be really concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn compulsory union dues. Otherwise, why would so many irrelevant responses erupt in response to Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE) Director Cindy Omlin’s July 12 letter, “Unions should earn members?”

As a retired teacher, I can assure you that teachers are forced into paying for union representation, their political machinery and controversial non-education political agendas. A Spokane teacher union president admitted that 70 percent of union dues are used for activities other than workplace representation. Why should teachers be forced to spend $700 of their $1,000 dues on activities unrelated to the workplace and for political organizing for causes they don’t support?

Robert Sleeth (July 26 letter) accused Omlin of biting the hand that fed her. The union doesn’t feed teachers, our hard work does. Instead, teachers are forced to feed the union’s voracious political appetite with dues forcibly taken from our paychecks. The Supreme Court should rectify this exploitative labor scheme.

Teachers who work with NWPE receive a rebate on their union dues. I donated mine to a nonreligious charity of my choice. A win-win.

Kelly Lancaster

Spokane