The part that I related to the most:

“I am supposed to deduct 10% from each grade for every day an assignment is late, but no student should get a grade below 50 (or 61, depending who you talk to).”

Been there, done that, took some heat when I used the failing marking period grade as a last ditch communication method.   I also was hit by her discussion of the varied things teachers want from their union. 

“When we do think about it, we wish that the union would address our own little concern (as a new teacher, I would like better tuition reimbursement for required courses; a senior colleague said she would like more help getting professional development credits -- something that doesn't even register on my own priority list). I believe our union is prioritizing protections for retirees this year.”

I think that this is something the AFT gets, in that we’re working to create opportunities for members to get involved in their community, to be politically active and to hone their professional skills—all through their union. But I’m left wondering if our membership sees this and is comfortable with it, and if people who aren’t members have any clue about it at all. It also makes me wonder, with a big hat tip to Matt Yglesias, if teacher unions are more like pasta sauce or mustard than like ketchup. I know it sounds silly, but Malcolm Gladwell wrote a piece wherein he presented some evidence that ketchup in its current form may well be designed to appeal pretty much universally, and that many other foods like mustard and pasta sauce just don’t do that. So that’s why you get a dozen different types of jarred pasta sauce under the same brand. 

And, of course, I’m sure that my friends in the organizing department are going to be thrilled when I  email them all this post and ask why we don't have  brands like "AFT-Spicy" and, well you know "AFT-extra chunky" and "AFT-extra cheesy" are probably non starters, but you get my point.