There’s a movement taking place in this country that will separate the men from the boys, and Conservatives from Liberals. We’ve been reading about it, taking sides and maybe even demonstrating. It started in Wisconsin and is spreading to other states. This movement is in response to the public finally becoming aware of the huge unfunded pension liabilities that exist because of very generous benefits enjoyed by municipal employees. This has led to the question of whether government employees should have the right to collectively bargain. If you’re a Conservative you’ve been watching events unfold and you see the fallacy of collective bargaining in state and municipal government. You almost certainly want your representatives to deal with this problem immediately. But, where does your Delegate stand on this issue? You might be surprised to know. Read on…
Background
Before I go on let me state unequivocally that I believe unions serve a critical purpose in American commerce. I grew up in Western Pennsylvania at a time when nearly everybody worked in either a coal mine or a steel mill. I remember stories of the way working men were treated prior to the advent of unionization. We may not like to admit it, but in the ruthless pursuit of profits, business owners can become ruthless. The most effective counter-balance to this is union power. Problems sometimes arise, however, when what is meant to be a counter-balance becomes an overwhelming, dominant influence. This, I believe, is what has occurred in the case of municipal employee’s unions.
Government employees should never have been allowed to unionize. The employer-employee relationship in government is not conducive to reasonable negotiation, which is critical to labor-management relations. Negotiation is the process of mutual discussion to determine the terms of an agreement. Mutuality does not exist when unions, who represent large blocks of voters, negotiate with those who depend on those votes for their continued employment. There are no opposing sides in that type of transaction, unless the elected officials involved possess a level of courage and integrity not witnessed in our time.
Solution?
So, what should we do? The answer seems clear – either find a way to equalize the negotiating strength of both sides, or eliminate unions altogether. One way to equalize is to make your state a ”right to work” state. This takes a lot of teeth out of the union bite.
Maryland Delegate Warren Miller of Howard County has proposed exactly that, by introducing HB 743. In a Liberal, Democrat-dominated state like Maryland, HB 743 doesn’t have a very good chance of passing, but that shouldn’t discourage good Conservatives from trying. There are 43 Republicans in the General Assembly and they all claim to be Conservative. You probably want all of them to co-sponsor HB 743 – but that’s not happening. Shamefully, there are only nine Delegates with the courage and integrity to represent your interests and face down the union. They are: Miller, Bates, Haddaway-Riccio, Hershey, Impallaria, O’Donnell, Schuh, Schulz and Stifler.
Is your Delegate one of the sponsors? Does he/she have the courage to stand up for your rights against the union? No? Remember that in 2014.
Tom, this is great information. Don’t stop.
Comment by E — February 26, 2011 @ 7:50 AM
Tom- Great Post. At the moment, government employee unions seems to be a uniquely state, as opposed to federal, issue. And unlike so many high visibility issues it appears to have only a state solution.
Government employee unions seems to be less of a problem in Maryland, because we are both a wealthy state with a AAA rating, but, as you point out, a one party state as well. But I would suspect that if Marylander’s could be made aware of what a sweet deal state and local government workers have negotiated for themselves, you might be able to arouse the electorate’s ire. Since the ’sweet deal’ continues to be easily financed it doesn’t get much attention in Maryland. But as we both know it is there and only Maryland’s unsustainable and environmentally destructive growth makes it possible. The real issue is how the state is financed and who benefits.
Environmentally destructive zoning laws coupled with federal largess (like BRAC), passed through to government workers through so called collective bargaining, who in turn finance and staff the Democratic campaigns, makes for the kind of corruption that only a Huey Long could appreciate. O’Malley is just a lot smoother than Huey, in fact smooth enough to become Joe Biden’s replacement.
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Comment by Harwood Nichols — February 26, 2011 @ 10:46 AM
Tom
Admit it Unions are out of date. The Auto, Steel and Building Materials business in this country is dead! Why? Because they cannot compete with China and India. AFL-CIO and Teamesters should go to China and organize after they call their notes to the MOB. Our manufacuturing sector can not compete! Public Employees used to work for government because of the pensions because the salaries sucked. As they got raises to compete with the private sector their pensions grew as the private sector junked that benefit for 401k’s. Wow aren’t they super. If they want high salaries jerk their pensions. Maybe the attitude at DMV office would improve. My father was right–He believed patronage was great because at least they worked once every 4 years. (In Chicago they had to vote 40 times on election day. By the way where is Obomba from?) Look at what teachers make for 8 months work, not bad!
Comment by William Darmstaedter — March 2, 2011 @ 4:16 PM