Having read Greg Oerter’s latest tirade against teachers and unions it came to me that it must be very difficult to enjoy things when he has this much pent up anger and apparent hatred for teachers and unions.
Every student has teachers they don’t relate to, perhaps I was one of them, but to vent this much anger for the entire teaching profession and their right to collectively bargain is hard to understand. Nevertheless, this anger does not give Oerter the privilege of creating his own facts.
First, school boards have never been forced to accept only the affiliated health care offered by WEAIT. Most teachers associations, like in Waupaca, have requested this program because it was a better program than others available and it still is. This request was given in lieu of wages as part of a salary package.
Since Oerter have never negotiated any of these contracts, he has no basis to make any claims of fact on this issue. I believe I pointed this out some time back that the teachers and board tried other programs but dropped them by mutual consent. So school districts don’t cost taxpayers money giving into the so-called scams as Oerter likes to portray them.
Second, Oerter’s remark about “constant coercive pressure” on the part of the teachers is another example of his attempt to promote another falsehood. It is not constant coercive pressure, it is called “collective bargaining.” The comments on arbitration are also misleading in that arbitration is a two-way street, to be used by both parties, the same as mediation.
Oerter writes that he has seen arbitrators from Madison and he derides them as ivory tower types who have never paid property taxes. This statement shows two things: First, he is expressing an insulting opinion, not a fact. Second, Oerter lacks any credibility in that I doubt he has ever participated in a collective bargaining situation.
Sadly, Oerter also puts down the hard work and dedication that school boards have given to the districts they represent. During the years that I negotiated contracts with the Waupaca School Board I never was given the impression they were intimidated or “coerced” into anything. Personally, I think Oerter is insulting some very dedicated people who served this community well.