Government/Public Sector Unions/Collective Bargaining is probably one of THE biggest scam in the history of our country. Let's make an analogy to what these unions are doing to the taxpayer.
Think of the audience at the John Stewart show (what a fruitcake, he always offers half the facts with 1/4 the logic, but I digress). The first row consists of the Government Union Workforce. The last 95% of the rows (let's call it 19 rows of people) are the American Taxpayers.
So....The first row pays Union Dues, which is in turn get spent to get Democrats Elected...who in turn use their power to allocate taxpayer money to pay for ridiculous salaries and ungodly pensions and benefits, the likes of which no one in the last 19 rows (public sector) could even dream of getting. The Unions, having received these benefits, then..collects their dues, and makes sure the Democrat gets elected in the next election with their money. The democrats then takes the 19 rows' money, to give more benefits to the 1 row...and the 1 row collects the dues...to elect the democrats and on and on and on. I would be like you, as a public sector employee, being able to hire/fire your boss if he/she does not agree to give you a raise, even when it's not reasonable to do so.
That IS the system, in it's whole and the truest essence of the Public Sector Unions. When the very money unions collect get to influence the very people who determine what benefits and wages they get, the system is broken. That is why states like Wisconsin and Indiana want to break these unions, plain and simple. The REAL miracle is...why it has taken the last 19 rows of the audience (us) 50 + years to figure out the scam that has been going on for so long right in front of their faces. Only in these tough times when people are looking around and saying...hey...hey...why are they getting guaranteed raises on their already inflated salaries and benefits in a recession that we go "hmm..wtf?" do we finally start opening our eyes.
I won't even get into the pages and pages of horror stories I could tell you about what kind of work environments these unions create. I've seen first hand over and over and over in my line of work the comedy that is union business efficiency. That's really a subject for another blog. But let's just say..there's a very good reason Amtrak has lost money ever year of it's history and it has nothing to do with the transit industry business. (just one example)
