Last week, the annual Calgary teacher’s convention was held. Every public school was closed on Thursday and Friday as teachers gathered downtown to rub shoulders and talk about teaching. This is nothing new and most professions hold conventions. Gatherings of working peers can be very productive in keeping up with new trends and sharing experiences.I was curious about something though. I asked on Twitter ("X") why the teachers' convention is scheduled in February just before a long weekend when the event could be held at the beginning or the end of the school year so students aren’t disrupted. The average teacher in Alberta makes $82,000 per year while the average Albertan salary is $70,000. On top of that, teachers work 50 fewer days per year than any other profession as they have the summer months off along with a fall break, Christmas break and spring break.Is it unreasonable to ask them to set aside two days during a non-instructional period for their convention?Apparently so. The reaction to my question on Twitter ("X") was nuclear as accounts flew out of the woodwork to call me every name in the book while depicting all teachers as being living saints.This is nothing new. Whenever I am critical of anything in education or healthcare a swarm of accounts backed by unions goes into attack mode. The unions know how to play social media.Hundreds of parents joined the discussion despite the howls of the accounts decrying the question. Clearly, many parents and other taxpayers are curious about the number of days teachers put in with instructional time as well. It was hard to have such a discussion due to the indignant raging of the union accounts, unfortunately.Teachers have a tough and important job. So do nurses for that matter. Due to this, we should be subjecting those professions to a high degree of scrutiny to ensure we are getting the most from them that we can. We certainly compensate them well enough. Unfortunately, the unions feel the opposite way. They try to shout down anybody questioning the system and facilitate mediocrity in the process.Nurses and teachers both enjoy very lucrative pension plans where the taxpayers match contributions for them. Good on them. That’s what collective bargaining is supposed to lead toward.Why though do the unions directly oppose the efforts of common Albertans to improve their pension plan? The average payout from the Canada Pension Plan for retired Canadians is a paltry $758 per month. Rest assured, public service union members are receiving much more than that.Despite their being generously covered in retirement, the unions are spending dues from members to fight the possible creation of an Alberta Pension Plan. The Alberta Nurse’s Union for example gave $200,000 to the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) specifically so the AFL could fight against Albertans seeking a better plan.Why do the unions oppose pension improvements for common citizens?The bottom line is that unions don’t care whatsoever about the fate of common citizens. They want the financial state for non-union workers to be as miserable as possible in hopes that they may join unions or form new ones. Private sector union membership has been falling for decades and the public sector unions are trying to spur a union membership revival by stifling public pension plan reforms. It truly exposes just how self-serving public service unions are.Not all workers are equal. They have variable degrees of talent and work ethic. Some teachers are worth twice what they are making now and some are just mailing it in and should be kicked into a different profession. Separating the good from the bad is impossible in a union environment, however. Those who work hard eventually burn out as they watch the lazy getting the same compensation as them. There is little incentive to go above and beyond.That's also why unions fight standardized testing of students as well. They don't want performance measures in place. Only through reducing the near-monopoly status of healthcare and education will we be able to reform those services and improve them. Non-union options need to be available for teachers and nurses so organized labour must compete to garner members rather than forcing them into the organization. Patients and parents should be able to choose non-union schools and medical services as well.Allowing labour and consumer choice terrifies unions of course. They are collectivists and compensation based on individual merit goes against everything they stand for. The unions are there for the unions and they will fight tooth and nail to maintain their stranglehold on segments of the workforce.There are many great workers in the public sector but there are many terrible ones as well. Until the public sector unions are disempowered, taxpayers will never get full value in return for what is taken from their hard-earned paycheques.The unions know this. That’s why they try to shut down even the most reasonable of critiques of workers.Citizens need to engage. When they speak up, the politicians pay attention. The Smith government is prepared for reforms. They need to know the population is behind them though. Speak up and don’t let the unions drown out your voices.Your retirement and the education of your children is on the line.
