We must decide that organizing government employees is illegal, and that public labor unions must be abolished. Why? Because balance of power, or balance of will, does not exist. In a corporation, if management gives in too often over an extended period and resulting work rules, wages, pensions, and benefits choke the company, there are several potential outcomes to adjust and correct. Management, recognizing the company's financial limits, convinces the union that there have to be changes and an accord is reached to keep all entities alive. Or a bankruptcy court mandates a diminishment of some provisions of the labor contracts, as well as hacking into the rights of secured debt, unsecured debt, and equity holders. Or the company fails and everyone loses.
The California prison guards are paid huge salaries, way out of context to any private comparable job; by contract they get to pad their last two years with tons of overtime resulting in pensions (calculated on the basis of their last two years' pay) significantly higher than their working base salary. And the union contributes large sums to the governors' campaigns; or against any candidate who vows to straighten this mess out.
The school teachers unions refuse to allow terminating poor teachers, and negotiate in tenure after just a year or two and no tough grading system. When budgets tighten, they determine who to fire but never anyone from the administrative and union-power positions, just teachers on the basis of seniority regardless of merit.
Wage rates for public employees keep on growing despite catastrophic overall economic conditions, governments reeling in red ink, and general business employees suffering declining wages and job loss; what's the benefit to the bureaucrat to tighten the belts?
In the union leaders' minds there is no chance that any government entity will ever go into bankruptcy or not somehow survive. There is no need to adjust to current economic conditions. In the business world, managers have financial limits and, even though it sometimes takes several decades for a crises to come to a head, it eventually does. Even in the interim managers are compensated on the financial well-being of their enterprise. There is a balance of power, and a balance of will. When unions exist for tax-payer funded activities, no such balance exists.
Couldnt agree with you more. As a member of a public service union, I am increasingly displeased by the willingness of our, "Union", to get behind candidates that are "Pro-Labor", despite their dispicable track records and self-serving interests.
There does need to be a balance though. Suddenly yanking the benefits and slashing the salaries just because, "management", aka the government, cant seem to manage or plan with forethought into the future. This lack of vision threatens public safety and is no fault of the unions or the people that serve.
So there is a give and take in the current format. The problem lies in the fact that public service isnt private sector business. The absolute waste and corruption goes on at all levels, and eliminating the unions is like cutting off one head of the hydra. The monster will simply grow another one in its place and continue on the path of corruption and greed. The unions are merely a reflection of the government and, sadly, society in general.
Posted by: Chip | June 04, 2010 at 09:37 AM