Unions by nature tend to be very divisive. Both sides of that divide are often very, and I mean VERY passionate. I always thought for the pro-union people, that they were very much involved and that they lived and died as a union.

My experience has been very much the opposite. I belong to a teacher’s union as you can probably guess. There are some people that are your typical “rah-rah” union. But overwhelmingly, most people are very much apathetic. I grew up in a household that didn’t really mind unions, but kinda leaned towards the idea that they were out of date. Most unions just got in the way.

Now that I’m in a union, I can see their value. If admin at the school is targeting a teacher, they are there. They make sure that all teachers are treated fairly. They fight for the teachers and anyone who isn’t admin. They provide valuable resources. They provide a sense of unity that not every school can really provide.

My school on the other hand, doesn’t have that sense of unity. Granted I don’t really know what happened to that sense of unity before I started working at my school, but most people don’t trust each other in that sense. Hell, I wouldn’t trust some of the teachers in my school to hold my attention. Chances are if you come across a teacher that is really shitty in to their students, they are similar when it comes to their co workers. One teacher that I’ve blogged about, they would sell you down the river if it meant he got a free high five. I mean this human shit-stain has literally no loyalty to anyone but the voices in his head. So it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that I wouldn’t want to stand united with him.

I don’t hate all the teachers in my building. In fact, I nothing them. I don’t mind them, they just don’t mean anything to me. I have a crew of people that I’m loyal to. I have a swath of people that I would be upset to not see anymore. Then there are those that I would like to see under my car. But that meaty, sausage like middle, I don’t really have an opinion about them. If I never saw them again, I don’t think my life would ever change. In fact there are some people that I forget that they are employed in the same building until I run into them in the time room.

But when it comes to being a union, no one has any skin in the game. It’s all take and no give. We just had a union meeting recently. If it wasn’t for a Dr’s appointment and being told about it last minute, I would have been there. But even at the meetings I attend, it’s usually the same faces. That meaty middle I talked about is no where to be found. But it’s that same sausage filling that is screaming in the chapter leader’s office when they get an unfair.

Basically what I’m saying is that if people expect a union to be successful, you need to fucking participate. My school? Chock full of apathetic people. The same sacks of meat that you would find in sausage at your local supermarket. So I really shouldn’t be surprised that nothing gets done in my school. I’m sure most schools are like that. No wonder why the education field is fucking miserable.