THOSE D*MN UNIONS: Do-nothing teachers' union threatens Marine's job

It is a question of principle.

Apparently, today's union bosses believe that service payment to the union is more important than one's service to his country.  As a result, they would rather make an example of a retired marine by having him fired for not paying union dues than to hear his case as to why he should not be forced to pay them.

A retired U.S. Marine who runs a Massachusetts high school's ROTC program says he faces termination if he doesn't pay a $500 union fee by next week, a levy he refuses to pay because he already receives medical and dental benefits from the military.

Maj. Stephen Godin, senior naval science instructor at the Naval Junior ROTC Unit at North High School in Worcester, Mass., told FoxNews.com he has been teaching for the Educational Association for Worcester for 15 years -- including 14 at North High School -- without having to join the union or pay an "agency fee" toward the cost of collective bargaining.

"I just want to save my job here," the 58-year-old father of two said. "I've been doing this for 15 years. Nobody has ever told me to join the union or be terminated."

Unfortunately, the teachers' union may have more standing in they eyes of the law, since Mr. Godin lives in Massachusetts, one of 28 states where it is legal to force workers to pay the union or the union can have them fired.

Godin, who earns roughly $75,000 a year, said he has asked for arbitration no fewer than five times, but has not received a response from the teacher's union. He said he received a letter last month from Worcester Public School officials indicating he will be fired on June 15 if he fails to pay the agency fee.

"It's really nothing," Godin said of the amount. "It's the principal [sic] of the matter. I think they're trying to extort money from me. They do nothing for me."

In this case, while they may have the legal right to have Major Godin fired, on principle*, the teachers' union is just plain WRONG..  To think, this retired marine fought for freedom for his country and his fellow Americans--some of whom are those very teachers' union bosses who are now trying to have him fired.

[* Then again, like morals, principles seem to be what are lacking with so many of today's union bosses.]

Read the rest of Major Godin's story here.
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

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