Teachers union forgets solidarity

I am a retired Suffolk County Community College professor (23 years) and also taught briefly in a Long Island public high school. I was a member of the college's faculty association and benefited from that membership.

I am also from a family of union members; my father, brother, husband, brothers-in-law, and a few nephews were or are all members of construction unions.

The concept of unions and their benefits to members is important. My father worked during years when there were issues of safety, health and seriously low pay for most workers. The idea of labor unions, people working together for the betterment of all employees, is a compelling reason for organizing any workforce.

It is my opinion that the teachers unions may have lost sight of this brotherhood concept in some areas of their philosophies.

The current climate of low government funds, due to past and current recessions, is causing the loss of jobs for faculty and staff in most, if not all, of Long Island's public school districts.

The fact that faculty associations are not supporting those faculty who are losing their jobs is, frankly, puzzling to me. If each remaining faculty member agreed to a temporary cut in pay, most school districts could keep all of their current faculty.

I would like to propose that all teachers keep their jobs at a slight decrease in salary rather than some keeping it all and some losing it all. It is, after all, what union brotherhood is truly about.

Laura Smith

Holbrook