Tea Party Is Right To Confront Government Unions, Part 2

A long time ago, in an America quite different from today’s, there were few protections for the worker. Unsanitary and dangerous work environments and exploitative practices created the need for labor unions to rescue the American worker. But their time has passed. Labor laws and watch-dog groups now protect workers. Unions are heroes no more.  As a result, private sector unions are on the decline and have been for some time. Unfortunately, government unions, since President Kennedy, have prospered. After all, what better affiliation can a self-serving organization have than the ultimate self-serving organization, the Democratic party. Today, unions exist only to serve themselves. Union-busting, particularly public-sector unions, must continue to be a priority for the tea-party and conservatives. There are a variety of reasons. We touched on how unions foster corruption and criminality in Part 1. Today we’ll briefly explore unfairness within the workplace.

Collective bargaining rights within government unions has created unfair terms of employment that are advantageous to the union member minority. These advantages often include unequal pay for similar work, unequal job security and mandatory wage increases. Since the election of Barack Obama, the number of federal employees making over $150,000 a year has more than doubled to over 10,000. Is a government bureaucrat, essentially an office worker, worth $150,000 a year? How about $110,000? Any takers at $90,000? Clearly, the money is nice. But so too is the job security. The inability to terminate a union employee for incompetency is well known and the subject of many jokes. What isn’t often mentioned is the actual stability of a government job. It seems once we establish a department or agency, we can’t get rid of it. The average unemployment rate between Dec 2007 – Jan 2010 was 3% for a public-sector worker. The rate for private sector workers was 7.9%, more than double, during the same time span.

But, ultimately, it is the lavish, if not ludicrous, benefit packages that have forced the American people to cry foul and brought state and local governments to their knees. All, of course, negotiated by union bosses and agreed to by union supported politicians. The Pew Center on the States reports, “…almost 90 percent of state and local governments offer retiree health benefits to employees who retire in their 50s, with the government paying much of their costs, often including Medicare premiums and deductibles.”

What is your approximate retirement age? If you’re a regular American, and you are somewhat realistic about your work-life, it certainly isn’t in your 50′s. But it gets better. Add to this that the government reports that life expectancy for a male is now into the mid-70′s and for a female it is bumping 80. That means taxpayers can look forward to funding 20, 25 even 30 years of a retiree’s existence.

Don Thompson, of the Associated Press, in December 2011 wrote of Patrick Godwin, a retiree from public education,“His departure from the workaday world is likely to be long and relatively free of financial concerns, after he retired last July at age 59 with a pension paying $174,308 a year for the rest of his life.”

Let’s do some quick math. Let’s say this gentleman lives another 10 years, that’s just under $2 million in wages as a retiree. Add to that any healthcare costs if his health deteriorates. All paid for, of course, by you and me. And with the Democratic party in on the fix, with its’ constant push for big government, is it no surprise that local governments all over the country have outrageous unfulfilled obligations.

Later in the article, our retiree, showing typical left-leaning logic, states he feels it’s not public employee retirement pensions that are the problem but “Wall Street and exorbitant corporate salaries.” Apparently, he doesn’t know that the tax-payer pays his salary while a private organization is responsible for a CEO’s pay. Which brings us to a subtle but often over-looked point. Virtually all citizens in the private sector must rely on the ups and downs of the market, ultimately not ever knowing the real value of their retirement account. Home equity, once relied upon to bolster retirement money, has been obliterated. In contrast, public-sector retirees are guaranteed their money as it comes from the tax payer. If the state or city finds they’re running a little short, they raise taxes. Take from the many to give to the few.

There was a time when America needed unions for the protection of the worker. That day has passed. Labor laws and watch dog groups have assumed that roll.  And ever since Democratic President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10988 – Employee Management Cooperation In The Federal Service, government unions have flourished and bled the country dry. The staggering number of state and local governments near bankruptcy or with outlandish future obligations demonstrates this can continue no longer. In today’s America, and with lots of help from the Democratic party, unions do little more than perpetuate themselves. It is up to the tea party and all conservatives to end union abuses by ending government unions.

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