Politics
Thursday June 22, 2006
Washington Teachers Union Refuses Union Dues Transfer Away from Abortion Support
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By Gudrun Schultz
WASHINGTON, United States, June 22, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The teachers union of Washington state has refused to allow a Christian teacher to have her union dues diverted to an organization that fights sex-trafficking, reported Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink yesterday.
Teacher Susan Wiggs objected to the Washington Education Association’s support of abortion and gay marriage and requested that her union dues be directed to Shared Hope International, a charitable organization dedicated to the eradication of sex trafficking and slavery of women and children.
The union rejected her choice, saying Shared Hope was not qualified.
Michael Reitz is director of labour policy at the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a non-profit public policy research group that promotes individual freedom and limited government. “It’s just absurd that the WEA would refuse to divert this teacher’s dues to an organization that’s dedicated to ending the sex-trafficking of children,” Reitz told CitizenLink.
“There are dozens of cases that have said that if you are a teacher where you are required to pay dues to a union—if you have a religious objection to that—you are free to divert your dues to a charity.”
Reitz and Wiggs both said they believe the union refused to recognize Shared Hope because the organization has strongly Christian roots.
In a similar incident in Canada last April, one of the country’s largest unions refused to allow a Catholic member to divert her dues to a charity after she objected to the union’s support of gay “marriage” legislation.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) denied Susan Comstock’s request despite a clause in PSAC’s collective agreement that allows a member to divert their dues to charity for reasons of religion or conscience. The union said that clause did not apply to her. PSAC openly supports homosexuality, urging all levels of government to “recognize and protect lesbian and gay relationships and families.”
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Canadian Union Refuses Member’s Right to Oppose Gay “Marriage”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/apr/06041902.html
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