For the record: I have no ax to grind with teachers. Teaching is a noble profession. NOBLE. Some of my closest friends are teachers. We NEED teachers. I also have very high respect for policemen and firemen. In fact, I have no problem with anybody out there making an honest buck. I do, however, have a huge problem with the incestuous alliance between the government & public sector unions, and have recently found myself paying close attention to what’s going on in Wisconsin under the watch of new governor Scott Walker.
AFSCME: 1.6 million members.
American Federation of Teachers: 1.5 million.
National Education Association: 3.2 million.
Barking about billionaire CEOs is good watercooler talk, but with these three unions alone, here are over 6 million people represented by public sector unions, and over the last 50 years or so, public sector unions have conspired with our friends in Washington to form a perfectly legal way to help themselves to YOUR DOUGH.
It sounds innocent enough: Boy meets union, boy joins union, boy pays union dues, union takes on management, better lives for union members. This story has been written millions of times over the last 100+ years. What is incestuous about that, Warren? Well, the dynamic is different when government plays the role of management, and here’s how:
When faced with union negotiations, private companies bargain with their own money. With public sector unions, the government bargains with OUR money. What motivation does the government have to go toe to toe with a union? There’s no earnings per share number they have to hit. What government official loses their job if they overspend? Nobody. They just tax us to fill the gap. Or simply allow the gap to grow (the term “unfunded pension liabilities” is as simple as it sounds, folks) and let the next guy worry about it. The result is larger salaries, better benefits and pension packages for public sector workers than people performing similar work in the private sector, and an increased burden for all taxpayers, either immediately or down the road.
It should surprise nobody that the government doesn’t negotiate as hard as the private sector, because it turns out that caving into the unions is good politics. Public sector unions dump millions into election campaigns (all but about 2% of it to the Democratic Party), so giving the unions what they want when they want it will help come re-election time, and in Washington, the point of all of it is to keep getting re-elected. That’s the incestuous part. Term limits, anyone?
Back to my original point: we NEED teachers. We need policemen and firemen. We needed them before they unionized, and we need them now. What we DON'T need is to be bullied by their union leadership to keep their members whole while the rest of us have to live with LESS. We have grown weary of the “kabuki theater” of so-called negotiations between unions and the government where everybody wins except the only party with no seat at the table: the American taxpayer.
With the Democrats safely tucked away in an undisclosed location somewhere in Illinois, Governor Walker is being painted as the villian in Wisconsin, and that is ridiculous. It would be WAY easier just to make a deal with the union and let the unfunded pension liability grow unchecked. After all, it won't be HIS problem when the pension fund runs completely out of money years from now. Walker is showing TRUE LEADERSHIP taking this on, and in my opinion, a discussion over deficit reduction that does not address the collective bargaining power of public sector unions is not a discussion worth having.
AFSCME: 1.6 million members.
American Federation of Teachers: 1.5 million.
National Education Association: 3.2 million.
Barking about billionaire CEOs is good watercooler talk, but with these three unions alone, here are over 6 million people represented by public sector unions, and over the last 50 years or so, public sector unions have conspired with our friends in Washington to form a perfectly legal way to help themselves to YOUR DOUGH.
It sounds innocent enough: Boy meets union, boy joins union, boy pays union dues, union takes on management, better lives for union members. This story has been written millions of times over the last 100+ years. What is incestuous about that, Warren? Well, the dynamic is different when government plays the role of management, and here’s how:
When faced with union negotiations, private companies bargain with their own money. With public sector unions, the government bargains with OUR money. What motivation does the government have to go toe to toe with a union? There’s no earnings per share number they have to hit. What government official loses their job if they overspend? Nobody. They just tax us to fill the gap. Or simply allow the gap to grow (the term “unfunded pension liabilities” is as simple as it sounds, folks) and let the next guy worry about it. The result is larger salaries, better benefits and pension packages for public sector workers than people performing similar work in the private sector, and an increased burden for all taxpayers, either immediately or down the road.
It should surprise nobody that the government doesn’t negotiate as hard as the private sector, because it turns out that caving into the unions is good politics. Public sector unions dump millions into election campaigns (all but about 2% of it to the Democratic Party), so giving the unions what they want when they want it will help come re-election time, and in Washington, the point of all of it is to keep getting re-elected. That’s the incestuous part. Term limits, anyone?
Back to my original point: we NEED teachers. We need policemen and firemen. We needed them before they unionized, and we need them now. What we DON'T need is to be bullied by their union leadership to keep their members whole while the rest of us have to live with LESS. We have grown weary of the “kabuki theater” of so-called negotiations between unions and the government where everybody wins except the only party with no seat at the table: the American taxpayer.
With the Democrats safely tucked away in an undisclosed location somewhere in Illinois, Governor Walker is being painted as the villian in Wisconsin, and that is ridiculous. It would be WAY easier just to make a deal with the union and let the unfunded pension liability grow unchecked. After all, it won't be HIS problem when the pension fund runs completely out of money years from now. Walker is showing TRUE LEADERSHIP taking this on, and in my opinion, a discussion over deficit reduction that does not address the collective bargaining power of public sector unions is not a discussion worth having.
