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Dad declares war on teachers union

In 1950s England, Simon Campbell's electrician grandfather publicly ripped up his union card.

In the same decade, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dissolved the power of trade unions in the United Kingdom.

Campbell, who grew up in northwest England and is now a resident of Lower Makefield, said his grandfather was making a public statement against strikes.

“He wanted to go to work and provide for his family. When the strike happened, he was one of the few to cross the picket line,'' Campbell said.

Now Campbell, 40, is taking a page from his grandfather's book and going one step further: Over the past three years, he's raised a grassroots movement to pass legislation making teacher strikes illegal in Pennsylvania. As a father of three elementary school children in Pennsbury, he said he was appalled by the 21-day teacher strike in 2005 and blamed “the power of the union” for disrupting the school year.

Three years after Campbell started protesting union rules and teacher strikes in Pennsbury, he has become a controversial figure in the local community.

In early April, Campbell linked to a list of teacher salaries on StopTeacherStrikes.org, the volunteer organization he started after the 2005 strike. Pennsbury teachers union leaders downplayed the publicity he generated, saying that the information already was publicly available.

While Campbell was not the first to make salaries public or claim that teachers are paid too much, he did stir up the issue.

“We are doing this to galvanize the public,” he said.

He hopes the public will eventually pressure the state Legislature into passing the Strike-Free Education Act, House Bill 1369. It would make Pennsylvania the 38th state to make teacher strikes illegal. Campbell contributed ideas for the bill, which chief sponsor and author state Rep. Todd Rock, R-Franklin, unveiled in early June 2007.

Rep. Dave Steil, R-31, who supports the bill, said Campbell is the only one “on the forefront” of the push for anti-strike legislation.

“He's had the temerity to follow through. It's a real uphill battle in this state,” said Steil. “Ultimately legislation passes when there is a massive groundswell of public support.”

In February, Tim Allwein, assistant executive director of the state school boards association, said he thought it would take at least five more years for public pressure to mount high enough to change state law.

The bill is under consideration in the House labor relations committee and has 28 co-sponsors. Still, Campbell doesn't anticipate a vote anytime soon — he believes that Robert Belfanti, the committee chairman, would be antagonistic to the bill because his campaigns have been funded in part by union money.

Campbell is guardedly optimistic about Senate interest in the future, and as for interest from Gov. Ed Rendell, Campbell thinks it could go either way.

“You never know with Rendell. He's made some noises on the issue. Of course he's taken a truckload of money from teachers unions. But you never know.”

CARRYING THE MESSAGE

Campbell travels two to three times a month to connect with others about StopTeacherStrikes.

“I get invited to speak to other groups, and I network with other taxpayer groups. Activity happens through networking and talking to others,” he said.

Juggling his work, his volunteer activities with StopTeacherStrikes.com and being a parent of three young children, doesn't leave him much time for hobbies, said Campbell.

“Mostly when I get down time, I like to read, travel and spend time with family and friends. I used to play a lot of squash but hurt my back so I can't anymore.”

In the mornings, he's an independent futures trader who works out of his simply appointed home office, with its sunny yellow walls, beige curtains and cream and wood furniture. The rest of the day he usually devotes to his cause and taking care of his three daughters, who attend Quarry Hill Elementary. He met his American wife at the University of Hull when she attended a year of college in England. She is an executive search consultant.

When the strike happened, Campbell said his family was “horrified.” Prior to settling in the U.S., the family had lived in Switzerland, where his eldest had attended two years of public school in a system that didn't allow teachers to strike.

“The contrast was quite stark,” he said. “It is unconscionable and immoral to me that innocent children can be pushed out of school.”

But what pressed Campbell to action was what happened on the final day of the strike.

“As sure as I stand here, the war is not over, but the battle is done,” Nyla Houser, then union president, told about 600 striking teachers that day. At the time, some teachers believed that she was trying to keep up their spirits and stand in solidarity with them.

For Campbell, her words comparing the situation to a “battle” incensed him and were the trigger for rousing public opposition to teacher strikes and union rules, he said. It pushed him over the line from angry parent to activist.

“Had she not said those words, I might not have been inspired to StopTeacherStrikes,” said Campbell.

Whenever Campbell talks about his mission, his speech gets more heightened as he gets wound up. The volume increases, the eyes frown and the nostrils flare in a tidal wave of fervor for his cause. If there is one thing Simon Campbell is not, it is hesitant. And he's not afraid to voice his opinions, even if it means being politically incorrect.

As an invited speaker at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in April, Campbell described unions as “Teletubbies” and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association as “Pretty Silly Blindingly Awful.” Later, Campbell explained the analogy.

“Teletubbies are kids' characters, strange creatures that jump up and down making incoherent noises. But I'm being flippant. My sense of humor is an acquired taste.”

He went on to say at StopTeacherStrikes, “we don't care about political correctness; we just cause a lot of trouble for the teachers union.”

Campbell tends to stir up emotions among those who agree and disagree with him. Many community members say they enjoy what he stands for but privately dislike his aggressive style.

House Bill 1369 co-sponsor Steil can appreciate Campbell's confrontational methods.

“He once said to me confrontation works. We disagreed somewhat and we probably still do,” said Steil. But he added that Campbell's brand of strong action keeps public attention focused on the issues.

In his children's own school district, Campbell's work to keep the public's attention includes speaking up during the public comment portion of Pennsbury school board meetings.

School board President Gregory Lucidi said that Campbell's approach can be forceful, but effective.

“He is doing a good job raising public awareness about teacher strikes and is getting a very positive response from members of the public. He has a very aggressive style, maybe too aggressive for some people's taste, but he is effective,” said Lucidi, who has worked with Campbell to promote House Bill 1369. He believes Campbell's input on the bill has garnered statewide attention.

'I'LL DESTROY YOU'

Some local critics say that Campbell goes beyond strongly preaching his views.

Ronald Smith, a Lower Makefield supervisor and criminal defense lawyer, said he dislikes his behavior.

“I'm of the opinion that he's nothing but a cancer. Although some of his positions may be laudable, he attempts to present his position by confrontation, intimidation and disparaging remarks to all those who may disagree with him,” Smith said. “They're afraid to say this but I'm not afraid. If you don't agree with Campbell, you are his archenemy. His position is — if you don't agree with me, I'll destroy you.”

Smith has accused Campbell of creating a rift between teachers and the school board. As a result, Smith says he's worried that Pennsbury teacher contract renegotiations next year will be more difficult.

Campbell is quick to point out that he's not against teachers.

“We're anti-strike, not anti-teacher. All my kids' teachers are great.” He blames the unions for a number of ills in the district and state.

What vexes Campbell about unions, he said, is that non-union members have to pay a union fee in Pennsbury.

“There's a difference between what a union member pays and what a non-union member pays, but why should they be forced to pay anything? It's coercion. They're like captive passengers.”

George Miller, president of Pennsbury's teachers union, countered that the fees contribute to the cost of collective bargaining and contract management.

“No one is forced to join the union under any circumstances,” he said. However, he did not return phone calls and e-mails asking for further explanation.

Campbell also blames unions for contributing dues money toward political action.

“They shouldn't be collecting money for private organizations to give for political actions. This money can pay for lobbying, political action committees, and be used to directly influence elections.”

Union leaders said that the money is used for more innocuous reasons. It goes toward petitioning for political actions that would benefit students, like paying representatives to petition for reforms on its behalf. Because teachers can't go to Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., said a union leader, political leaders have to take action for them on concerns like No Child Left Behind.

As far as strikes go, Wythe Keever, spokesman for the state education association, said they evolved out of a feeling of helplessness in the late '60s. At that time, Keever said, teacher salaries were low and public employees didn't have collective bargaining rights.

He said growing advocacy at the state level led to the use of strikes as a bargaining chip.

“Striking is the only leverage that teachers have when bargaining fails to produce what they consider to be fair settlement. The general feeling is that strikes should be a last resort, but a legal last resort.”

WHERE DO LEGISLATORS STAND?

Campbell recently put a survey for state representatives on his StopTeacherStrikes Web site.

It asks whether they support strike-free legislation and union practices like taking a fee from all teachers, whether they are part of the union or not.

Campbell said he wants the public to know where legislators stand. He said StopTeacherStrikes is “all about educating the public, trying to get people to look at the big picture.”

He looks to his grandfather's example when confronted with opposition.

“It wasn't that he was teaching me to be anti-union but that I should stand up for what I believe in.”

Campbell said his role model is the former prime minister of the United Kingdom,

“In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher liberated the UK from the stranglehold of corrupting union power and socialism. She was a conviction politician. People either loved her or they hated her. I loved her.”

Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com.