Reps to Hear About NEA's Abuse of Dues, Harassment of Members
By Jim Brown and Jody Brown
June 19, 2002
headlines.agapepress.org
(AgapePress) - Two Ohio school employees who were harassed by the National Education Association for having religious objections to the union's liberal agenda will be testifying on Capitol Hill.
Dennis Robey, a high school teacher in New Carlilse, and Kathleen Klamut, a school psychologist in Ravenna, intend to discuss the abuses they have incurred for refusing to support the NEA's pro-abortion, pro-homosexual agenda. The hearings will take place on Thursday before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, which is chaired by Republican Charlie Norwood of Georgia.
Norwood says the hearings will focus on "the failure of unions to follow the law when it comes to the use of union dues for political purposes." His office points out that even though unions violate federal law and the laws of most states when they use dues to fund campaigns for public office, unions continue to spend hundreds of millions of such money on political campaigns.
Dan Cronin is with the National Right to Work Foundation, which represents Robey and Klamut. He says the teachers will address the need to end forced unionism.
"Among those corridors where we have union puppets, it's going to be scoffed at, looked down upon -- they're going to obviously try to portray [Robey and Klamut] as being somehow out of the mainstream," Cronin says. "But I think both of these folks are going to come across as very clear, common-sense, good people who just want their rights respected -- and hopefully people will see that you have ordinary citizens around the country who are being threatened and harassed by big union militants."
Also scheduled to speak before Norwood's subcommittee are Mark Levin, president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, and Bob Williams, president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. Both of those organizations claim their study of union political activity indicates a pattern of willful noncompliance with the law.
Meanwhile, a bill that would end the forced unionization of workers is languishing in the House of Representatives. According to Cronin, Republican John Boehner, chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, is blocking the National Right to Work Act (HR 1109) from coming to a vote.
Cronin says the Act would protect the rights of individuals like Robey and Klamut, both of whom are from Boehner's home state of Ohio.
"It would make union membership 100% voluntary," Cronin explains. "So if you were in a situation like Kathleen Klamut or Dennis Robey's, where the union at your place of work is supporting causes that you feel are immoral, you don't have to join. You wouldn't have to pay union dues or go through any kind of a process of filling out forms or being threatened, harassed, or intimidated because you could simply just not join the union."
According to Cronin, Republicans like Boehner are alienating their base by attempting to appease labor unions that have never shown an inclination to support conservative causes. And he says he is not aware of any unions that force their workers to send their dues to a conservative organization. |
