Alex, an industrious teenager, comes home after a week at his first job. He is frustrated to the point of tears.
“Dad,” he says. “I’m not making enough money at the hamburger stand. I’ve worked extra hard, stayed overtime, and still the wage isn’t enough to pay for my car’s gas and insurance.”
“Yes, Alex, that’s a common problem. You need to demand extra money from the customers.”
The next day Alex shows up for work, and during the lunch rush he starts asking the customers for a raise. “You had a hamburger, extra fries, two milk shakes, and a snow cone. That’s ten dollars, plus another five dollars for me.”
This exact scenario played out on May 9, 2023. That day, representatives from the Montgomery County Education Association (teachers’ union) disrupted the democratic process by conducting a sit-in during the County Council’s meeting. Only yesterday I watched the video.
To my untrained eye in criminal jurisprudence, this looks awfully like a misdemeanor. Did union president Jennifer Martin know in advance about this offense? Did any of the council members? If we are grilling Donald Trump for his involvement in January 6, we similarly need to find out who orchestrated and knew about this disruptive sit-in.
Here is the real issue. In any union-management kerfuffle, the two parties negotiate directly. Last year the Teamsters negotiated with UPS; the SEIU went to the mat against Kaiser Permanente; the United Auto Workers took actions at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. Following this model, the teachers’ union should be conducting sit-ins at the MCPS headquarters, because MCPS is the employer, not the County Council. In fact, instead of asking us the taxpayers for more money, those union thugs should be demanding why former superintendent Gloria McKnight was allowed to hire her girlfriends for frivolous positions; they should be asking MCPS why 20% of the school budget goes to non-instructional functions.
Clearly, the advice teenager Alex received from his father was ridiculous. Among high-functioning adults, if an employee feels that he doesn’t make enough money at a job, he needs to ask the boss for a raise or find another job. That’s what the County Council should tell the union thugs next time they orchestrate a sit-in: either ask MCPS for a raise, or quit. If the council members can’t stand up to the union, then they need to remove themselves entirely from funding the schools.
