Thankfully, I'm not the only one deeply worried about the growing, but not unstoppable, power of those darn government unions.
Government unions used their influence this winter in Washington to ensure that a healthy chunk of the federal stimulus package was sent to states and cities to preserve public jobs. Now they are fighting tenacious and largely successful local battles to safeguard salaries and benefits. Their gains, of course, can only come at the expense of taxpayers, which is one reason why states and cities are approving tens of billions of dollars in tax increases.
It's not as if we haven't seen this coming. When the movement among public-sector workers to unionize began gathering momentum in the 1950s, some critics, including private-sector labor leaders such as George Meany, observed that government is a monopoly not subject to the discipline of the marketplace. Allowing these workers -- many already protected by civil-service law -- to organize and bargain collectively might ultimately give them the power to hold politicians and taxpayers hostage.
It wasn't long before such fears were realized. By the mid-1960s, dozens of cities across America were wracked by teachers' strikes that closed school systems. Groups like New York City's transit workers walked off the job in 1966, bringing business in Gotham to a near halt. The United Federation of Teachers led an illegal strike which closed down New York City schools in 1968.
Widespread ire against strikes by public workers produced legislation in many states outlawing them. That prompted government workers to retreat from the picket lines into the halls of government. In Washington, they organized political action committees, set up sophisticated lobbying efforts, and used their muscle to help elect sympathetic public officials.
Government unions, such as SEIU and AFSCME, as well as those teacher unions raise bucketfuls of money, almost all of it goes to Democratic candidates.
Very few people are angry about this power grab by the unions.
That will change. Oh yes, that will change.
Taxpayers: It's time to make our voice heard.
Related posts:
Those darn government unions...
Report from the bloggers' teleconference about Employee FORCED Choice binding arbitration
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1 comment:
Unions need to die.
My sister is a teacher, when I asked if she was a union member she responded with a very hearty 'HELL NO!'.
There is no reason for Unions to exist anymore in America. We got OSHA(which is too overbearing anyhow) and other laws, which are actually enforced, to 'protect the workers'. I don't need a Union to take care of me. I'm an American dammit with many marketable skills(and no college!). If I don't like my job, I demand better pay or quit. I can find another job.
Same with Teachers, they don't need to be employed by the State. Get a job as a Tutor, or in a Private School.
That is, you can do that if you actually have skills as a good Teacher...otherwise, yea, you may need a Union to take care of your lazy self.
Transportation workers? Lotsa private companies need drivers, mechanics and engineers. Why would you need a government Union to take care of you?
Ohh yea, thas right. It's because you don't actually have any skills because driving a bus or operating a subway train is something anyone with 30 minutes of training can do.
(Took me bout 10 minutes to figure out a forklift, and I'm a desk-jockey. I don't need no stinking license...most employers don't even ask.)
Same with the 'Teachers' who consider it a productive day when none of their kids commit murder in the classroom that day.
I can do that job, gimmie some mace(CS-Teargas) and a taser. Call it ETT(Enhanced Teaching Techniques).
Of course, it's no coincidence that the biggest Union States are also the ones with the highest taxes that prevent an individual from saving enough to move out or start a small business. Go figure.
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