SALEM, Ore. – Most union contract negotiations occur behind the scenes, with little taxpayer input or observance. That allows unions to pull dirty tricks at the bargaining table and in the community in an attempt to swing things their way.

The North American Association of Educational Negotiators prepared a document listing the “Fifteen tricks that teachers unions play on school boards.”

They include:

• The Crisis Center Caper—Use the word “crisis” and put every member of the management team into a tizzy.
• The Information march Maneuver–Start with an “informational” picket line.
• The Marathon Meeting Tactic–Call for round-the-clock bargaining.
• The Business Boycott Scheme–If any school board members have local businesses used by teachers, intimate that you’ll take your business elsewhere.
• The Blast the Boss Bamboozle–Attack the chief school administrator.
• The Nail the Negotiator Trick–Put out the word to school board and administrators that their negotiator is the one holding up the works.
• The Improper Practice Play–Charge the school board with refusal to bargain in good faith or with some other easily manufactured grievance.
• The Misdirection Play—Cloud the real bargaining issues.
• The Lambs to Slaughter Strategy–Get the board members to come to the bargaining table personally.
• The Mislead Your Members Move–Send letters to all the members of the local after negotiations begin.
• The Lazy Day Device–Institute a “work-to-rule” job action.
• The Desperate School Board Scenario–Tell everyone that the board is dying to reach an agreement.
• The Neighborhood Nuisance Number–Picket the homes of school board members (if not all their homes, at least the board president’s); stay on public property, of course.
• The Telephone Seduction Subterfuge–Get these teachers on the telephone, calling individual school board members.
• The Strike Threat Gambit–Whether bellowed to the world or whispered in the right ears, the threat of a teacher strike is sometimes surprisingly effective.

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A mix of these tactics are regularly used by unions in an attempt to intimidate school leaders into caving in.

Every single one of these have nothing to do with the education of students and instead are geared towards securing a better deal for adults.

These tactics divide communities and take the focus away from education. But that’s the point – Big Labor needs a fractured community because it will eventually lead to the school board giving in.

To read more installments of “The Other Labor History: What Kids Won’t Learn,” click here.