The Executive Council Policy on Donations and on Solidarity and Political Endorsements states that “donations to and endorsements of political candidates should be rare and require a rationale.” Further, a rational for recommendations should be provided to and voted on by the Chapter membership as part of a regular or special membership meeting.
After due diligence and research, the Political Action Committee (PAC) recommended that the membership contribute $5,000 to Representative Fred Strahorn, $5,000 to Representative Driehaus, and $1,000 to Representative Dan Ramos. The motion was unanimously approved by the membership at the September Chapter meeting.
All three State Representatives were instrumental in the chapter’s fight against HB #64 this past spring. HB #64 would have reclassified faculty as managers and prohibited faculty from bargaining collectively. This would have eliminated all the protections of the collective bargaining and the contract. Remember when the administration proposed a 400% increase in health insurance? Without the protection of the contract they would have implemented that unilaterally—just as they did with unrepresented employees. That is why collective bargaining is important any why defeating HB #64 was critical.
These contributions came out of money in a special account for political contributions. Funds had been transferred into the account in a prior year. The contributions will not affect the chapter’s 2015 operating budget.
All the recipients of the contributions are Democrats, however, the PAC strives for bipartisanship and continues to seek out and engage Republican legislators that understand and are supportive of faculty issues.
Contributions came from union dues. Contributions did not and can never come from fair share fees. In a political atmosphere increasingly hostile to faculty and to collective bargaining, it is one more example of why full union membership is critical.