By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

WINCHESTER, Ind. – Gina Walker fought her union, and the union won.

Walker is the Indiana teacher recently reported on who was being sued in small claims court by her union over missed dues payments from the recently completed school year.

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Walker countered that the Randolph Central Classroom Teachers Association had an unfairly narrow time span for quitting the union, with information buried in her teachers’ contract.

The court’s verdict arrived in her mailbox on Thursday.

“Not good news for me,” Walker told EAGnews.org in an email. “I just received my judgment in the mail today. The judge says I must pay the $689 dues and court cost of $90, plus any interest (8%) from the date of the judgment.”

But there’s a silver lining for Walker. After she writes one final check to the RCCTA, she will be finally free of the union.

Not only did she give herself a $700 pay raise for the upcoming school year because she won’t be paying full dues, but she’s serving as an inspiration for other teachers all across the U.S. who may be considering quitting their unions.

“As long as other teachers become aware of deadlines to resign from a union and I can encourage other teachers to realize we don’t need a union to better educate our children, then all has not been lost,” Walker wrote.