I was teaching Adult Education at City Colleges ffrom 1981 to 1998. In 1991 we voted to become part of the union American Federation of State County and Municioal Employees (AFSCME, Council 31) for job protection. The classes were free to students, paid by the State of Illinois, and the Illinois of Public Aid (PA) required foreign student receiving assistance to attend English as a Second Language classes to obtain skills and find jobs. But many students tried to beat the system by register for the PA required classes, and after the morning roll call to answer "Present," then they got up and left saying: "Sorry, teacher, I have to go to work." But when they left, I changed the attendance roster to "Absent", and when at the end of the month they brought me a PA form to verify their attendance, I marked all absences, and the PA cut their assistance and food stamps. Those students were cheating PA by getting assistance and work for cash! And I didn't want to be part of their schemes because I would legally liable for falsifying student reports to help them commit welfare fraud. On March 11, 1998, I notified by U.S. Certified Mail the Illinois Department of Public Aid of the scheme going on at City Colleges with the consent of the Union.
The Union
asked me to recant the PA letter of fraud, because the "Present" grades need for the class funding, and, if it was cuf off, the teachers will lose jobs, and the Union will lose their fees. [Copy of original letter to Illioins Public Aid available] The City Colleges and AFSCME were furious, and harassed me in various ways.
Then AFSCME and the City Colleges of Chicago used their clout and tried to scrap a BIll (SB1750) pending before the Illinois House Committee. I then sent letters on May 1, 1998 to each member of that Committee, and urged them to pass the the law which -if pass "will establish accountability that will get rid of many educational parasites," on quote. (Copy of that original letter is available).
On June 10, 1998, the Chicago Tribune headlined: "Students get A's for nothing," confirming that the fraud I had reported to Public Aid was also going on at The West Side Institute, anothe City Collges of Chicago campus.
(Copy of that Tribune headline is available)
Ten days later, on June 20, 1998, I was fired by City Colleges of Chicago. The AFSCME filed a grievance for wrongful job termination with City Colleges of Chicago, but is was a smokescreen. And when I contested the case in courts by myself - the Union had cancelled the fake arbitration set up- the Union hired a law firm who joined another law firm hired by the City Colleges
of Chicago and both fought me all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court. There was no way that an individual like me, no matter my high education, could fight the flood of motions by 2 law firms and win a case.
A Union, using the fees of a member to hire a law firm to secure the firing of a whistleblower member for exposing fraud may seem to be unheard in history. But it happend more often, and it just swept under the rug.
In 2001 I started working for the State of Illinois, and AFSCME with hefty political contributions to both Democrats and Republicans has secured control of representation of all State employees. Worse yet, I had to pay monthly fees to the Union that used my prior fees to prosecute my prior employment. Under a "Fair Share Law," the Union took fees from my paycheck without my consent. That was a violation of my U.S. Constitutional Rights, 5th Amemdment, because I was forced agaisnt my will to finance my own prosecution. But there was no way out. The AFSCME used it clout to make the "Fair Share" law foolproof by allowing in the law only a provision for a non-member to "Challenge" the Union fees by arbitration. By the arbitration
request is made to the Union -not the State- and the Union can ignore it without any penalty. Six years and six requests for arbitration to the Union
were never processed.
Upon further research, I found that forcing a person to belong to an organization and paying dues violates 3 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But unfortunately, the U.S. is not a party of the Protocol of Civil and Political Rights, and that is why the Intenational Human Rights Commission has no rights to Guantanamo detainees. On an inquiry to the
Int'L Human Rights Commission I was told that I could not file a complaint agaisnt the U.S. for allowing "forcible memberships" by Unions
Also the National labor Relations Board, and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice told me they have no jurisdiction. And a letter to U.S. Senator John McCain for congessional hearings on the AFSCME's prosecution of a whistleblower, got no response.
In a true democracy, Unions shall not be able to extract fees against the will of laborers, then use those fees as political financing for politicians [their charter says that fees are not used for political constibutions, if anybody can believe that] to customize laws that benefit the Union management against the interest of their members. Exposue is needed in that confy relationship between politicians and unions that has become an anathema to every honest citizen in the United States. The late Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire, who never accepted money as political contribution , told NBC's Tom Brokaw in an interview: "People come to Washington with money and buy
legislation." And in a true democracy, nobody shall be able to empty the pockets of other people against their will, then use that money to prosecute them and mess their lives LEGALLY!!!!
AND WRITTEN IRREFUTABLE DOCUMENTAION IS AVAILABLE!
Nikos xxxxx
River Grove, Illinois
U.S.A.
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