My wife was a teacher. Their union was one of the most dishonest thing I've ever seen, with the school running a close second. When we were having our first ki

My wife was a teacher. Their union was one of the most dishonest thing I've ever seen, with the school running a close second. When we were having our first kid, my wife made the mistake of telling the school she was pregnant. Over the summer the school laid off every employee that wasn't tenured due to budget cuts. Then due to contractual obligations, they hired all of them back. Well, all except the three that were pregnant. The union did two things to help: diddly, and squat. A month into the process they indicated that they could get this resolved, then suddenly started straight up refusing to talk to us until we coughed up the next quarter's dues ($400 IIRC). As soon as we paid they told us there was nothing we could do. And since the wife wasn't qualified to work for the quarter, those dues were unnecessary. The school was the really shady character though. If we had kept silent about the pregnancy, she would have been hired back, then fall under their disability leave. We fought the whole thing, and of the DoL said the way they managed the layoff was above board, and while the whole thing stunk, it wasn't technically illegal. I understand the need for unions in the early 20th century, but I have yet to see a single example of a modern union helping any employee.