What part of due process is hard to understand?

Washington Examiner cover, 2/14/2011, "Fired teachers backed by judge"
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Today's Washington Examiner story "Fired teachers backed by judge" on the recent arbitrator's ruling calling for the reinstatement of teachers fired by Michelle Rhee, when she was in charge of DC Public Schools, has the tone of incredulity.

If you have ever been fired from a job--by people who were more enamored of their power than fairness- as I have been, more than once (note that it is b.s. about the value of "telling truth to power")-you can understand why due process is an important concept. But there is no fairness clause for firing--unless it's part of a union contract or you work for the government, as generally, because government agencies are under the authority of the U.S. Constitution, workers have a few more protections.

DCPS didn't follow the procedure called for in the Union contract. If Michelle Rhee wanted to fire the people so bad, _and she had cause_, all she needed to do was follow procedure.

Obviously, no one wants to retain as employees people who aren't fit for the job. That's the point of a probationary period, where the employer has the option of not continuing employment for people who are deemed to be unsatisfactory. The Examiner article discusses cause, but at the level of hearsay.