* Marietta English was re-elected as president of the Baltimore Teachers Union. This will be her seventh three-year term, and it has become so pro forma that the union didn’t even bother to announce the tabulated vote, the turnout, or even if she had a challenger.

* The New Jersey Education Association had an election/accession, as incumbent vice president Wendell Steinhauer moved up to president, and secretary-treasurer Marie Blistan advanced to vice president. We’re looking forward to seeing what they’ll be wearing this season.

* There was a minor upset in Miami as incumbent secretary-treasurer Fedrick C. Ingram defeated incumbent vice president Artie Leichner for the presidency of United Teachers of Dade. The Miami Herald story inaccurately states UTD has 34,000 members, which instead is the number of people in the bargaining unit. There is no agency fee in Florida. UTD has 14,500 members, of whom 7,600 cast a vote in the election, which is a pretty high turnout for a union election.

* Votes will be tabulated this weekend for the presidency of the Buffalo Teachers Federation, where Phil Rumore has been president for 32 years. His opponent, Marc Bruno,  was six when Rumore first won.

1) The Teacher Tenure Song.

2) The opening theme to High School Sucks.

3) Greatest Hit Songs of the Teacher.

4) Public School House Rock – Nouns.

5) And, of course, NEA Standing Strong.

“Staffing has decreased significantly over the past 4 years and on August 30, 2013, an additional 27 staff members will retire leaving the organization without the ability to
continue the necessary work,” reads the flyer. “WEA does not plan to fill those positions with permanent employees which is a violation of the negotiated Collective Bargaining
Agreement.”

The staff union claims WEA will end the year with a positive $8.3 million “fund balance.” I’m not sure to what that refers, but I do know that in 2010-11 the union’s net assets were $18.6 million in the red, mostly due to staff pensions and retiree health care.

NEA has been lucky not to see any staff strikes or major job actions during the economic downturn. In general, staff unions have recognized the financial straits many state affiliates are in. But as recovery proceeds, we can expect to see greater demands from union employees – at least the ones who are left.

“After facing enemies abroad, is an $8.81 an hour part-time job the best we can offer returning veterans?” asks Trumka.

He’s right. Veterans deserve more than $8.81 an hour. And I know a place where they can do much better, get amazing benefits and not have to work nearly as hard.

How about earning $29,000 as an intern?

$33,000 as a cafeteria clerk?

$39,000 as an “evening cleaner?”

$54,000 as a general office clerk?

$59,500 as an office machine operator?

$72,000 as a web assistant?

$73,000 as a security guard?

$77,000 as a driver/general assistant?

$90,000 as a cook?

$96,000 as a car wash manager?

And all that is before we even begin to talk about the professional positions. Veterans, don’t settle for Walmart. Head over to AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, DC and start living the good life.

On those rare occasions when challengers unseat incumbents, it’s usually through promises to get tougher with management. But Specht appears to promise more collaboration. And after the results were known, everyone involved clammed up about what it all meant. So I applaud Beth Hawkins of the Minnesota Post for trying to get to the bottom of it, though I’m not sure she succeeded.

Hawkins writes of “simmering irritation” with Dooher, activists who were rankled at his personal style, and that they viewed Dooher as a “self-promoter.”

Of course, Education Minnesota’s internal workings have long been inscrutable, and this just may be a unique characteristic. But if self-promotion should become a handicap in NEA elections, a lot of people should worry.