Teamsters Local 175
 

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Ken Hall Op-Ed: Gazette
Feb 22, 2019

Ken Hall: Carmichael uses dirty tricks to pass school bill (Gazette Opinion)         

West Virginia Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, is up to his dirty tricks again. This time, it is at the expense of our children, their teachers and the community as a whole. In an attempt to ram through a bill (Senate Bill 451) that would tack harmful legislation on to the same bill providing for salary increases for teachers and school personnel, Senator Carmichael has manipulated the legislative process to achieve the outcome he wants. Rather than send the proposed legislation through the Senate Finance Committee, he bypassed the committee entirely to ensure that the legislation didn’t die. Bypassing the committee is not the usual path for passing legislation and it smacks of desperation.

I think we can all agree that our educators and school personnel deserve to be paid fairly, and a 5 percent increase will help get them there. Unfortunately, Carmichael is trying to use those increases to justify — among other things — vouchers and other programs to take money out of our public schools. Our teachers believe that paying them fairly should not be tied to such legislation. They will not be bought off. The unions representing our teachers have come out against SB 451 and have signaled that they are willing to walk out again in order to make sure that their students have what they need to excel.

Teamsters Local 175 stands with our teachers. We demand that Carmichael take his fingers out of his ears and stop stomping his feet. He is clearly acting out in retaliation for his loss and for being forced to give in to the teachers’ demands last year. Although he has tried to take credit for it now, Carmichael fought tooth and nail against the teachers last time. No one handed the teachers wage increases and other improvements; instead they gained the support of parents, students, labor unions, community groups and even school administrators and they struck.

I am pleased to hear that Gov. Justice will veto SB 451 if it lands on his desk. But I am disheartened at the behavior of Sen. Carmichael. The senator should understand that we did not back down last time and we will not back down this time. He needs to stop playing games with the education of our children and follow the normal legislative process. Even if that means he loses.


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Donate to WV Children's Home Society
For many years, the members of this Local Union have contributed to and raised money for a local charity, West Virginia Children’s Home Society. CHS provides food and toys to families in need throughout West Virginia. Through generous donations, we were able to deliver 2 tractor trailers and several SUVs loaded with food, general household items as well as toys to a CHS location in Charleston. They then distributed the items to hundreds of families in WV. It was our biggest year yet. We estimated with donations and discounts, we delivered well over $50,000 in food and toys. You can be a part of this great even this year by offering a monetary donation. Our members plan to shop for food/toys in December and your help is greatly appreciated. We guarantee 100% of donations goes directly to WV families. If you would like to learn more about Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, please visit www.childhswv.org.
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Teamsters Local 175
267 Staunton Avenue SW
South Charleston, WV 25303
  304-744-2193

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