GOVERNMENT UNIONS NEED TO GO
Who Thought This Made Sense?
“All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress.
Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees. Since their own services have to do with the functioning of the Government, a strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable.”
- FDR’s letter to Luther C. Steward, President of the National Federation of Federal Employees, of August 16, 1937
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Unionization
There was a time when many employers in the US treated employees much like the Uyghurs and Falun Gong are treated in China; as slaves. Working hours were insane, equipment and facilities were dangerous and productivity drove your pay. Unions were a way of balancing the scales. Because unions had to negotiate directly with employers, everyone understood the stakes. When people were treated poorly but had the chance to find other jobs, companies knew they had to negotiate to keep their staff. And union members understood that if their demands exceeded the company’s ability to survive, they had to make compromises. Private companies worked, until the balance was no longer needed. Now, around 6% of these companies have unions, a choice made by the employees. In fact, years ago, there was an attempt to unionize IT workers. But we all felt we would have more bargaining power as individuals do a great job. We declined to organize.
Why Shouldn’t Public Employees Have This Option
Unions work when you have direct contact between employees and management. That isn’t the case when you look at public employees. You and I are their employers – we pay their salaries and provide their luxurious benefits. But we don’t get to participate in the negotiations for those benefits. We are only the golden goose they are killing.
In fact, politicians govern all the negotiations, and as unions have deep purses and contribute, primarily to Democrats, the incestuous relationship results in bigger donations in exchange for extremely lucrative deals with the unions. As FDR said, this is not the way government employment is supposed to work. Remember, FDR was a Democrat, but in this area, much saner than any since.
Originally, the deal was a safe job for life and a small pension, but for lower pay. The idea was that for those who liked very safe investments, choosing to work for the government meant getting less money, but being safe. Now, after all the deals made by politicians, the pay is in many cases higher than the private sector and they still have lifetime tenure and very large, costly pensions and benefits. This isn’t how it should work. In fact, tenure is bad for employers and employees. It takes away the power of an employer to keep only the best people and encourages the tenured staff to do less than excellent work, because they simply don’t have to put in the long hours and effort that their private sector counterparts do.
A Taxpayer Revolt
Though it isn’t strictly speaking about unionization, the recent uprising against teachers’ unions is a beginning. These tenured, protected and nurtured teachers think they hold all the power, but we have other options, many of which parents have chosen this past two years. Unfortunately, the least fortunate of us can’t opt for private school and often, can’t home school as their jobs take them away from the home for many hours. Is this the group that should be screwed over by politicians? They claim to care for them, but they don’t.
Some say teachers are underpaid, but in the private sector, the best teachers make more money than in public while putting in more hours and doing a far better job. And let’s face it. When you only work ¾ of the year, do you actually merit pay reflective of a year’s work? The average salary is $61,730, which includes teachers in affordable states. That works out to $77,163 if they worked a full year. Pay at that level is pretty good, but if they negotiated their salary individually, the best and most desired would make a lot more.
It’s time to end the gravy train and the lifetime employment. Government employees at all levels should be rated and rewarded individually, subject to layoffs and firing and converted to the 401K plans the rest of us have. It’s only right. There also should be a regular audit of every department, proving that they need the number of people they have. Budgets should be evaluated. Government just keeps getting larger (and new departments are created all the time), but if we had a balanced budget rule, perhaps the department managers would start evaluating staffing and costs, just like our valued companies. I’m sure we don’t need all the government we are paying for. It’s time to get more for our money and much lower taxes.
