In the real world, taking someone’s money for one purpose and spending it on another is the textbook definition of fraud, and no one guilty of it is brazen enough to advertise their actions for the world to see.
But such is the hubris of organized labor under the current administration that unions no longer even have to pretend they’re serving the needs of their dues-paying members rather than the radical Leftist ideals of its leadership.
That’s never been more clear than it was this week, when United Teachers of Los Angeles — the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union — decided its 35,000 dues-paying members could best be served by an expression of virulent anti-Semitism.
On Wednesday, UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz sent a statement to members encouraging adoption of a resolution:
“…denounce(ing) the recent bombings in The West Bank and Gaza by the Israeli resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilian people, mostly women and children. The high intensity aerial warfare is unjust and inhumane. Palestinians have the right to self-determination free of violence and occupation. UN Resolution 194 asserts their right of return to their homes, unjustly seized by the Israeli government Israel must stop evictions of Palestinians currently taking place in East Jerusalem and end its 55-year old military occupation of The West Bank and Gaza strip. Our tax dollars should go to public schools and healthcare not incessant warfare against an indigenous people in the Middle East. UTLA should unite with and stand up for workers everywhere, especially the most oppressed of them, especially as the Palestinian Federation of Trade Union of Gaza urges solidarity. The World Federation of Trade Unions has also denounced the attacks against Palestinians. It is time we do, too.”
Leaving aside for a moment the jaw-dropping ignorance of the Middle East situation manifest in Myart-Cruz’s grotesque over-simplification, it simply beggars belief that anyone could contemplate marshaling the combined resources at UTLA’s disposal in defense of an ideology that make no apology for the use of terrorism and death in its relentless quest to eradicate the entire Jewish race.
What must members of UTLA think when told their dues money will be used for such a vile purpose? Surely no more than a handful of its rank and file share Myart-Cruz’s warped views; are the rest so cowed that they would tolerate without a fight such a statement being issued on their behalf?
In a clarifying statement issued later the same day by UTLA, Myart-Cruz wrote:
“Debate and disagreement are essential to democracy and to our union, even when there are deep, conflicting emotions on both sides. As educators, it is our job to create nurturing, safe environments for all of our students. UTLA stands against racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, and oppression in all forms. We stand against both anti-Jewish hate and violence and anti-Arab hate and violence wherever they occur, and we denounce the recent attacks on Jewish people in Los Angeles.”
How exactly is the organization doing so? By taking an official statement calculated to marginalize not only Jewish teachers but also students?
It is unconscionable that after a year of sacrificing our children’s education and well-being on the altar of their leftist political agenda to defund the police, ban charter schools and raise taxes on California residents, UTLA is now wasting taxpayer resources to condemn Israel, causing further political division at a time we need it least.
Los Angeles has the second-largest Jewish community in America. UTLA’s statements in light of the recent anti-Semitic attacks are unfathomable.
It’s as if UTLA is hell-bent on inflicting mental and emotional damage on the children and parents in the district.
When will the politicians in Los Angeles stand up to these union thugs? Better yet, when will more of its members tell UTLA it doesn’t speak on their behalf when it crosses the boundary of wages, benefits and workplace conditions and ventures into unalloyed hate speech?
