Quote:
Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy
As far as public unions are concerned, they need to respect the will of the people as represented by elected officials. Sure, they have a right to exist, but the people have the right to determine their parameters.
|
Who are these public unions? Police? Firefighters? Teachers?
Are they people? Yes. They're even American citizens. So in effect, they are part owners of the very government that is on the other side of the bargaining table. They've got TWICE as much "skin in the game" as the average citizen.
These public union members are pretty much all workers. Nearly 100% of them are employed. They are working folk and work for a living. Real Americans, in other words. As employed citizens, all of them they pay taxes. They also pay union dues and participate in their own democratic organization, a union. That union provides the service of collective bargaining for the dues paid (just like a business).
The state bargains with the union to come to an agreement. Both parties agree to the agreement...by definition. This system works and all the checks and balances are I place.
Now let's consider the gaze of a greedy eye being cast on all of that tax money flowing back and forth between citizens. How do they GET SOME? First, they create a crisis. We're broke and the sky is falling! We need to do drastic steps or else our children will be forced to become gay and have abortions! (don't ask me how this works). Next, they provide the solution. Voila! (and notice how they only provide the solution when they are strongly in control of the government, usually right after a landslide election). They demonize the teachers, firefighters, police, and other public unions and call them UNION THUGS or UNION BOSSES. None of this is true, of course.
Their goal is to abolish all unions, starting with public sector ones. Divide and conquer. The public knows that teachers, firefighters, and police will LOSE but think (wrongly) that they will WIN. Instead, that money goes to cronies of the Republicans pushing the legislation. Everything that can be privatized is. They'd sell off your schools, prisons, police stations, and firehouses if they could get away with it. Is that bad? Yes. Imagine sending your kids to school that is owned and operated by they same company that you work for. Or, if you happen to work for a good one now...substitute ALL of the companies on your résumé. Scary, huh? Now have those fools in charge of keeping you safe from fire and criminals.
The "parameters" have already been determined. And agreed to. Over and over again. It is the Republicans that pushing to alter these public parameters for private profit. In the short term, they want to make a system where teachers, etc. are ON THEIR OWN as individuals to bargain with a STATE GOVERNMENT. The only more lopsided scenario is an individual dealing with the federal government.
Wisconsin Union Zombie Demonstration
