US

Billboard Tells LA Teachers They’ll Save $1,000 Per Year If They Quit Their Union

Screenshot/Fox News

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Nick Givas Media And Politics Reporter
Font Size:

President of the California Policy Center, Will Swaim, is trying to convince Los Angeles teachers to leave their unions and recoup their membership dues instead of continuing the strike.

Swaim and several others started a billboard campaign telling teachers they can save $1,000 per year if they decide to cut ties with the teachers union.

“There is a lot of media attention, of course, because some people might want to hear an alternative perspective to what the teacher’s union is pumping out every day,” Swaim said on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday. “And then, you know not a little bit of controversy around them because the union, of course, would not like its members to know they don’t have to keep paying the union to keep their jobs.”

LA teachers initiated the strike and walked out of the classroom on Monday for the first time in 30 years. (RELATED: LA School District Superintendent Says Day 1 Of The Lose Angeles Teachers Strike Cost District $25 Million)

WATCH:

Swaim also said teachers deserve to decide what they do with their own paychecks and claimed the union is pushing the school system to the edge of bankruptcy.

“If you ask most public employee members, the number one reason they want to opt out is because they’d like to keep their money, right? They earn this money and the union dips into the paychecks and takes it out,” he said. “The second and most important reason might be that L.A. teachers ought to know and we aim to help them understand that the union dues they pay fund the union system that is driving the L.A. Unified school district right to the brink of insolvency. This district is a couple of steps away from insolvency.”

Swaim claimed the union can’t provide teachers with enough perks to make it worth their while and predicted the pension fund will soon dry up.

“The benefits the union provides are fairly paltry,” he said. “It’s the union’s deal with the district. The district continues to pay you your wages and your insurance and your pension. It is in fact the pension agreements the district has agreed to in the past that retirement benefits, healthcare, pension, that is driving the district into bankruptcy. So some of these pension benefits may not be around forever.”

You can Follow Nick on Twitter

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.