he leaders of the two national teachers unions signaled a change of heart when it came to requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for school employees. Although their newfound vaccination advocacy had a number of qualifications, it did prompt many previously reluctant state and local unions to follow suit. Governors and school superintendents interpreted these statements of support as an “all clear” to institute vaccine mandates.

But unions, like most large bureaucratic organizations, are like oil tankers. They don’t turn on a dime, and it’s clear that many affiliates were unprepared for the shift in direction, or were unwilling to go along for the ride.

“The unions are in a difficult position,” wrote Time reporter Charlotte Alter. “The national unions’ hesitance to embrace vaccine mandates has hurt their reputation on a national scale and angered parents fearing for their children’s safety, yet they are reluctant to do anything that might hamper the local unions’ bargaining power.”

That’s it in a nutshell, and it has been obvious from the earliest days of the pandemic. Back in May 2020, the California Teachers Association was already issuing bargaining advisories to its local affiliates, recommending that they “ensure they have proposals to get something in exchange for concessions.”

While parents and students were struggling mightily with online learning, the union was telling its locals, “Now is the time to secure language improvements that we have wanted for some time.”

If I understand the current positions of the national teachers unions correctly, they support universal mask mandates and strongly urge vaccination of both staff and eligible students, with mandatory testing for the unvaccinated. Who should be exempted from those requirements is a matter to be left to local collective bargaining.

Read the full article about vaccine mandates and teachers' unions by Mike Antonucci at The 74.