Well, it may be splitting hairs but I'd like to offer my perspective on this issue as I haven't seen it from the teachers' side (and yet I've seen us at least partially called out for the current economic situation - laugh). The ATA is a professional association, I guess when you get down to the nitty gritty, it is a union (collective bargaining) but provides me with so many other benefits that I am not confident I would get without it like professional development and such.
Professional Associations/Unions are indeed very much a necessity for teaching, I think. It provides me with protection in case some kid decides he/she didn't like how I discipline them or teach them or whichever that I would not normally be able to provide myself. That IS necessary and is not necessarily a safety issue. You would see huge numbers of teachers leave if we were not unionized for exactly this reason. It's a risky enough environment as a teacher as-is.
Of course, I don't see how I, as a teacher, am contributing to this economic issue. Our recent contract negotiated wages that increase with whatever happens to the Alberta Weekly Earnings index. It seems fair to me. I don't see how such a blanket statement can be made when you have the CEOs leading corporations pulling in the paycheques they do.
All this being said, I can acknowledge a couple of counter points:
1. The CAW and ilk are currently painting a very bad picture of unions right now
2. That issue with the TAs in York is horrible too, and I don't see how anyone in their right mind could defend it
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