In a message dated Mon, 15 Jul 2002 7:06:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, Mark Snyder
writes:
> I visited the Trainor site, too. Clicked on education and found lots of
> ranting about unions opposing merit pay and as long as they control the
> political party making decisions, there would be no merit pay?
>
> Didn't the Minneapolis teacher's union just agree to merit pay language in
> their latest contract?
Not that I'm aware of. If I'm wrong, I'd be happy to take note of that.
It would certainly be a big exception to the general rule where the AFT/NEA
are concerned, and well worth noting.
> Also clicked on Mr. Trainor's answers to the "Pink Pistols" questionnaire.
> Boy, was that some interesting reading! Especially the part about how
> employers shouldn't have to provide health insurance!
You took that out of context, Mark, and not only that, you skipped the
juicy parts. I'm of the opinion that employers should get out of the insurance
business, since it's a leftover from the wage & price controls put in place
after World War II, BUT they should raise their employees' pay by the amount
they presently contribute to the health plans so the employees can go out
and buy health insurance/HMO coverage/medical savings accounts on the open
market...if they choose to. The system as it stands now discriminates against
young people who miss out on some of their pay if they choose not to take
advantage of employer-subsidized health coverage.
The whole deal was as part of my original answer to the Pink Pistols'
question on domestic partnerships. I'm pretty annoyed that the GOP House
Caucus tried to sink the state labor agreement because of the domestic
partners health benefits, and the foregoing was offered as a way of getting
that question off the table.
> Granted, Mr. Trainor did say he thought unions should be able to
> purchase group policies for their members, but since the MN GOP
> seems hell-bent on eradicating all the
> unions in the state, that doesn't exactly comfort me much.
Funny, I missed that part of the party platform. So did all the
union members at the state convention, such as my fellow House candidate
Andy Lindberg, a Teamsters member in good standing. Maybe because there's
no truth to it, Mark? I also believe that fraternal societies (Knights of
Columbus, Eagles) and professional associations and other groups of people
(AAA, NAACP, whoever) should be allowed to sell health insurance as they
presently sell life insurance. The more vendors, the better.
> Sure glad I don't live in 61A!
<shrug> Can't please everybody. Hope you're happy where you are.
Kevin Trainor
RPM Candidate HD 61A
East Phillips
www.taxpayersfortrainor.org
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