WAUKEGAN Alderman states LAZY TEACHERS because the BLUE RIBBONS they tied on poles were NOT taken down. NEWSUN ARTICLE : One month after the end of the Waukegan teachers strike, the sight of blue solidarity ribbons left at picket sites sparked criticism at Monday’s City Council meeting from 4th Ward Ald. Harold Beadling. Repeating sentiments he expressed at a Nov. 17 meeting, Beadling called on members of the Waukegan Teachers Council to remove ribbons that were tied to utility poles around the city. “I’ll take another whack at the teachers — the ones who were on the picket lines,” Beadling said during the aldermen’s comment period. “Go by Glen Flora and Lewis [avenues], and there’s still blue ribbons tied around our traffic-signal poles.” Beadling added that he had also seen ribbons at Glen Rock Avenue and Jackson Street near District 60′s Alternative/Optional Education Center, and at North Avenue and Franklin Street near North Elementary School. “It’s no different than graffiti,” Beadling added. “You know, they want to put the stuff up there — can’t they get their lazy butt out there after school [and] take the ribbons down, please?” After Beadling added that “it looks like crap,” 3rd Ward Ald. Gregory Moisio — who walked the picket line as a Waukegan High School teacher — offered a response. “If it would make you happy,” Moisio said to Beadling, “give me the list of places and I’ll go remove them. If it will make you happy, I’ll take care of it myself as a ‘lazy-ass’ teacher.” Moisio’s comment was greeted by laughter as Beadling appeared to say he would appreciate it. At the Nov. 17 meeting, Beadling told the council that “I pulled [the ribbons] out of the 4th Ward myself, and then they all returned — they put them back up.” “I can’t understand how somebody can do something like that and then not remove it,” he added. “That, to me, is just like the kid that puts his stickers all over our signs or spray-paints somebody’s garage door. It’s vandalism. It’s graffiti.” Reached for comment on Tuesday, Dec. 2, Lake County Federation of Teachers President Mike McGue said he doesn’t feel that the blue ribbons should be subject to removal regulations such as those focused on political-campaign signs. “It’s customary for a community to show support for its teachers, and that’s one way to do it,” McGue said. “Community support for their teachers is an ongoing thing. It’s not just during a job action.” McGue added that if Beadling “finds it particularly offensive, he can put it in writing to me and I’ll take it to my [teachers union] board.” As of Tuesday afternoon, the ribbons remained up in the locations mentioned by Beadling on Monday night, among other sites around the city.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 04:38:10 +0000
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