In Wisconsin some are more equal than others.
In Wisconsin some are more equal than others, such as those in the private sector who ante up for their own "fringe" benefits, such as retirement, and toward their health care premiums. It is a battle for the very soul of America, about to be played out in other budget-crunched states reacting to the intransigence of cash-rich public employee unions and their awesome PACs that pay off "kept" politicians to do their thing.
"Ask NOT what you can do for your state, ask only what your state can do for you…"
This might well be the rallying cry for public employee union members hitting the streets in Madison, Wisconsin. Their action foreshadows reactions to must-do budget constraints in several other states caused, in large part, by out-of-touch state pension liabilities and rising, unshared health care premiums.
The showdown pits the "have's" — at least those with well-paying state and local government jobs — versus those of us lesser beings, also known as private sector employees. Those toiling in the latter are forced by fiscal realities to help fund their own pension programs and health premiums. Imagine that!
Recall those thrilling days of yesteryear when these were called "fringe benefits." Now, to most union members, these are inviolable "core benefits," payable, in effect, by the full-bore taxpayers, come hell – read NOW – or high water.
In Wisconsin, legions of teachers abandoned their classrooms, violating contracts, to voice their angst over a bill that would restrict their "right" to collective bargaining – only on their generous by any standard benefits, NOT on wages.
They lap up fraudulent sick day excuses from lawbreaking doctors to participate in a de facto wildcat strike, a work stoppage, while still being paid by the hastily-written "excuses." In effect, their demonstrations are being paid for by regular taxpayers. Have teachers and others no honor? Their actions in the street and at the Capitol causes classes to be canceled and some schools in Madison to be closed.
Meanwhile, 14 craven Democrat legislators fled the state to avoid voting on the issue, halting at least temporarily, the legislative process. Fleeing state senators go to Rockford, Illinois, thus to be untouchable by Wisconsin law enforcement. Ingenious, no? Cowardly, yes.
Their departure is termed by Republican Governor Scott Walker, ". . . disrespect for the democratic process and for the very institution of the Legislature." Oh, It's all of that, and more – a slap in the face of voters, indeed of America. After all, voters sort of expected their elected representatives minimally to show up for duty. Is that too much for ideologues?
In response, not really reply, hide-n-go-seek legislators sneer at the governor's plea to return to jobs they were elected to perform. Their unions-paid-off party first, and duty later? Besides, who dares bite the hands that feeds their political campaigns? Kept politicians are like that, unwaivering in their fealty to their union paymasters.
AWOL teachers call in "sick" with bogus excuses, a move they would not sanction for their students. Double standard here? Sure. Think of life's lessons for their students: So it's okay now to lie? To break contracts? (Cheat and steal, too?) How sad, these horrendous teachable moments events in Madison have become, about to spread elsewhere.
It is reminiscent of the 2003 walk-out in Texas. Democrats twice fled the state to nearby Oklahoma to prevent a vote on a redistricting bill. It was "their way, you see, or the highway." Ultimately they failed, and map-based demographic facts prevailed over ugly partisan politics.
Those with longer memories will recall the air traffic controllers' (PATCO) strike in the early 1980s. President Reagan, himself once a union president (Screen Actors' Guild), fired the whole lot of air controllers who illegally stopped or slowed-down working at their well-paying federal jobs. Later a crop of newly-minted controllers, eager for such jobs, had the air traffic lanes in order again.
One wonders if such a mass firing was to occur in Wisconsin. Jobs vacated by the lying, work-stopping teachers, calling in "sick," would be filled quickly with substitute teachers and other wannabe teachers now unemployed or underemployed. They'd stream into Wisconsin in droves from all over the nation. And "Teach for America" would have a heyday.
Upon leaving their sworn duties, departing legislators exchanged high-fives with protesters. Protesters cried "thank you" to their departing Tweedledee and Tweedledums, their allies whom their unions supported handsomely with lavish campaign contributions. (Collusion? Well, sure it is. Corruption of the system? Yes, if the spade is called black, it is. Note how mainstream media shy away from any such obvious link? Shhh.)
At the same time, school-skipping teachers hurl hisses toward GOP legislators as they came to the Capitol. They chanted "(Hi Hi, Ho Ho….") and scream for what they call their "rights." Some of the mouthy malcontents hoist placards comparing Gov. Walker with Hitler, replete with the swastikas. (Note how media did not use pictures of these offensive placards, quite unlike their "coverage" of Tea Party gatherings, zooming in on the less charitable placard?)
Next, will it be, for Republicans, the need for body guards? Thugs usually accompany such mobs. And will media get it right, finally, about real issues? After all, the proposed Wisconsin legislation does NOT take away collective bargaining rights over wages, only over what were once called, "fringe" benefits, now evolved into sacrosanct, entitled "rights." We've come a long way, baby!
Putting public employees on a par with private sector employees? Why, who would stand for that? It all recalls Orwell's Animal Farm howling satire: "Some are more equal than others." To hell with the budget: Let someone else, perhaps the anonymous taxpayer behind the tree, pay for the largess to public employees, to fund their PACs.
All hail, then, or bow down to, swaggering public employees' unions and their PACs to pay off their doting legislators? Corruption, that it is. But don't tell MSM. They'll call it something else, such as "union busting."
In effect here, a battle is being waged for the soul of America.
Ordinary citizens working their tails off to pay taxes and share in costs of their own benefits, would have lost control of government of the people, and by the people, replaced by government of the union, led by well-heeled union bosses. If this battle is lost, it will lead increasingly to government for the privileged public unions, their dues paying off lawmakers who kowtow to their demands. Raw corruption in paid-off legislators never had it so good.
Well, you see it is true that some are more equal than others. In my school years, some time ago, teachers were more equal by virtue of their hard work and acceptance of the lower overall pay based on lower overall working hours. In my working class neighborhood, it was very unusual for anyone to hold a bachelors degree and we were very proud to graduate from high school. Of course we knew doctors and we were aware of lawyers who held college degrees, but the most common persons in our lives who had graduated from a University were the teachers at the local school. Most of these teachers were held in high esteem by both students and parents, and showed them deference based on their level of education and dedication to teaching. These working class people held jobs in industry and most were union members with stories about the working conditions before collective bargaining. When the teachers unionized, this differentiation was damaged. The teachers became a part of the working class, represented by a union the same as the truckers and assembly line workers. No longer were they more equal, but they were to be measured on the same basis with all other workers. The teachers union shouted for more pay and benefits, but parents accustomed to being paid by the hour and frequently working more than 40 hours understood that 6 hours per day times 180 days per year was approximately half of what they were working each year, therefore teaching was a well-paid and respected profession. Today we see teachers with placards say Walker=Hitler=Mubarak and we are reminded of the days when the coal miners went on strike and precipitated a conversion to natural gas heating and we say “If you don’t like the conditions of teaching then go with the miners to the unemployment lines, we will find professionals to teach our children”
I just completed reading an article that states that Wisconsin grammer school reading levels have been frozen for a decade; and for that decade 2/3 of the school children read at less than a proficient level. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the $4,956 1998 dollars are actually $6,546 in 2008 dollars. So in Wisconsin, per student expenditures increased a total of $4,245 over a decade for no measurable improvement http://cnsnews.com/news/article/two-thirds-wisconsin-public-school-8th-g# So, the highest per pupil spending in the Midwest over the last ten years has yielded not one iota of increased reading ability for the students
A couple of points:
1) Governor Walker should issue an ultimatum that the teachers either get back to work or they will be replaced with people with degrees and a business background. The results would skyrocket since these folks know how to produce and not be concerned with how many “sick days” they can pile up or retire early so they can get another gig in another district.
2) Ivan makes a good point on days gone by with teachers getting respect. But then government got involved and decided that everyone should have a degree. Besides being ridiculous, it put kids in college who did not belong there and with a huge government loan. Guess who made out on that one? That’s right, the teacher’s unions who would pass the kids right along to keep them in school so they could pay their tuition and end up with a worthless degree rather than learning a skill. The colleges exploded and soon the profs were wanting to do “research” work on the left-handed grandmothers of Indonesian. Our education system is so fouled up it will take a generation or more to straighten it out but that is what happens when the government gets involved.
I’ll not go into the unions and unmerited raises since all that does is raise prices and therefore there is no real raise and we become less competitive as a society.
hvance,
While I believe your first suggestion has some merit such a decision is outside the purview of the Governor of Wisconsin. One may think that the issue is collective bargaining or reasonable contributions to pension and benefit programs.
The major issue here is ‘right-to-work’. Wisconsin is not a right-to-work state meaning that unions have the power to compel mandatory union membership in order to obtain work. This is what happens in Wisconsin and in several other Northern states. Once a workplace has been ‘organized’ you may not obtain employment in that organized workplace until you join the union. He could fire all the teachers he wants. While they’re all suing the state for reinstatement, any substitutes hired must by law join the WEA (The local chapter of the NEA).
The second challenge here is that the Wisconsin Teacher’s union has their own medical insurance company. Since the company is bankrolled by the union, they can subsidize medical costs to the point where they have a captive customer base by under cutting co-pays and deductibles below the cost of other companies.
What’s going on in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, New Jersey, and Washington DC is simple. Progressive democrats believe in an ultimate principle; redistribution of wealth. They also believe that all money in existence belongs to government, so tax increases are never excessive because, as far as they’re concerned, it’s all the government’s money anyway so requiring those in temporary control of those funds to turn them over to government is not an issue for them. That is why the choice is NEVER to cut spending, but to always increase taxes.
Combine the above attitude with the condescending hubris that is a requirement to be a progressive and you have the situations we’re looking at across the country. Democrats love shoving entitlement programs, fees and taxes on the public. They’re answer usually is; “We are the majority; so you need to sit down, shut up, and take the screwing like the electoral loser you are.
Now the shoe is on the other foot. So the progressive democrats in states such as Wisconsin and Indiana throw a tantrum and run away. Indiana democrats have, in effect, cast a ‘majority’ no vote to budget cuts, right-to-work, school vouchers, and several other cost saving measures. “How?” you may ask? By running away and refusing to do the jobs they were elected to do they’ve delayed something like 40 bills from being reported out of legislative committees in the past week. Since those bills did not make it through the committee process they’re all dead.
A version of the same thing is going on in Washington DC. Democrats don’t like the republican budget proposal to cut $60 billion from the FY 2010 budget. So democrats want another CR (Continuing Resolution) to fund government. Republicans insist on cutting numbers from the CR as well, so dems have threatened a government shutdown: And make no mistake it will be democrats’ fault is it does shut down. Now Harry Reid tries to look all reasonable by saying; “Let’s just extend a CR for one month at current levels while we talk. He’s trying to run out the clock. He’ll propose monthly extensions, with no cuts in the elevated spending levels, hoping they can steal a congressional majority in 2012. All they have to do is make sure republicans never get a budget cut then they can hammer their opponents as liars next November.
The progressives really don’t’ desire to turn control of the government back over to republicans until the only possible decision left is national bankruptcy.
Since 2008 you’ve been experiencing the tyranny of the majority. Now you get to experience the tyranny of the minority. When we lose they win. When they lose, we still cannot win. Nice game huh?
Bill W.,
I totally get the right to work state, the progressive’s strategy, why they left the state, etc., etc. I simply went to a solution without going through the process of explaining that the laws needs changing. The conservative psyche in most Americans is not one of confrontation. They have to be backed into a corner and I believe that that seminal moment is occurring as I type this reply. The unions will not go quietly. Our community organizer president will make sure of that while he is in office. Now is the time to have a spine like Governor Walker. 1-20-13
It seems to me that the times are becoming ripe for conservatives to begin to move decisively toward one of their long-term goals–the destruction of labor unions in the US. Conservatives have never believed that workers have a ‘right’ to form unions. The very concept of “collective bargaining” belongs to the Left. The notion that workers ought to be ‘represented’ by any sort of organization is anathema to conservatives. In the early 19th century, unions were illegal in the US, and I think conservatives should be headed toward reviving this concept today. The Right should begin with public employee unions, eliminating their powers systematically and permanently. Then they can be abolished, leaving the remaining private employee unions as the next target. Discrediting and eliminating them should be quite easy. The time to start is clearly now. Conservatives know that nothing is more unAmerican than labor unions.
hvance,
I apologize if I went through a tedious repetition of what you were already aware of. I think the one salient point here is that even the patron saint of the left, FDR, knew that collective bargaining was a privilege that should not have been extended to public sector employees.
While I agree wholeheartedly with your post, I feel that the public sector unions, in cahoots with progressive legislators will always circumvent any checks government may earn via legislation. Wisconsin, I’m certain, already has some type of ‘no work stoppage’ clause in the union contract it maintains with its teachers. But when doctors are willing to show up at the capitol in Madison and write medical excuses for teachers it not only becomes almost impossible to prove an illegal strike action, but the teachers are acting out without any consequence whatsoever.
I’m a state employee and therefore belong to a union. The rules say you cannot log more than two days of sequential sick pay without presenting a doctor excuse for your absence. Miss three days and come back with no excuse and you are forced to take vacation time, or no pay due if you have no vacation, as opposed to sick time. These teachers are being paid (with sick pay) for not going to work and still will have all their earned vacation time later. How disenguiniuos is that?
Gestell,
I cannot say that I disagree with you. While I’ve not seen the plank in the platform that says “We despise unions and they shall be outlawed.” I think we can all agree that the usefulness of unions has past. Granted; there was a time when unions played an important role for workers; but now, not so much.
As I said to hvance; I do have some experience with unions and here’s what I’ve discovered. There are @ 42,000 Arkansas state employees: But go to a union meeting and you’ll only see @ 150 people there. However; that 150 are the most radical, narrow minded, activists that ever came down the pike! They’re so far left they make Barack Obama look like Pat Buchanan . So invariably less than one half of one percent of the membership are usually the driving force behind any petition for grievance against the state. When the union monthly newsletter comes out and states that at the last meeting the union unanimously approved extended maternity leave for any parent of a newborn, it’s a sham. 42,000 employees didn’t vote for this; only 150 did. This is eventually what happens to all unions, they are taken over by the most radical activists. Why? Because they’re the ones that go to the meetings.
What we do is ensure that some ‘normal’ union members attend all meetings. Whenever some idiot in the crowd says; “I know! Lets’ makem’ give us 2 weeks vacation for each year of employment.” We get up and spend our fifteen minutes of floor time (voted by majority of course) castigating that person in the most vile, disparaging terms possible. You know; like progressives do with anyone who disagrees with them. We can usually cause such a ruckus that the leadership tables the discussion without asking for motion, second, or a vote. You know; the way progressives usually act whenever they are in the minority.
One of the reasons private sector union membership is in such steep decline is because workers no longer require such representation to receive competitive salary/benefit packages. Unions are anxious for card check legislation to be enacted just because of this set of conditions.
For example: All of the auto parts manufacturers and auto assembly plants that have opened in several southern states are here because those states are ‘right-to-work’ states. They all pay wage & benefits packages that are competitive with northern unionized plants. So while the union organizers may be able to get enough signed cards to force a vote to organize, most of these people are signing those cards as to get the organizers to stop hassling them all the time. When the secret ballot happens the unions get tossed out on their collective ear (pun intended!). As the union’s ability to steal dues from workers lessens their ability to influence legislation through donations lessens also. If unions were illegal in this country we’d NEVER elect a democrat majority anywhere; democrats would be that financially strapped.
You’re a teacher. Don’t you belong to the union. I wonder how much of your dues is currently being used to pay for ‘Astro-Turf’ demonstrators in the states of Ohio, Wisconsin, and Indiana? And don’t say “None!” because unless you are the boss of the national you don’t know. And, more than that, if you ask the national, they won’t tell you! Yours is not to wonder why; yours is but to strike and lie!
Bill,
No apologies necessary, how could you know what I was aware of? It’s an excellent point that you make regarding the radical activists running the union. One of the main reasons that I am so anti-union is that I have seen up close what out of control unions can do to people, families, cities and areas. They organize and begin to chip away at a company. I do know and agree that at one point in time the unions were needed but that is a by gone era. There are laws against things that unions corrected. The problem is I am from a town where we had 22,000 to 25,000 people employed at five different industries.They are all gone except one and it is left only because Firestone tires were having blowouts and Goodyear could not afford to close the plant. Goodyear was in the process of closing and was down to about 300 employees when Firestone had its tire problems. Goodyear had to bring the tire equipment back to town to manufacture the tires. The reason they were closing the plant? Bad relations with the union. We lost a basic steel plant, a cotton mill, a tractor manufacturing plant and a pipe foundry all because the unions would not believe that the companies could not give anymore. Needless to say the companies shut the doors. The union bosses all left town to organize for some other group of workers and couldn’t care less about the carnage that they left behind. As a result of these action my town cannot get a company to look at us because of the union problems that have been in this area. It is sad when you sit down and the first question out of a person’s mouth is, “How is the union situation today?”. Unions do not help companies become more competitive, they hurt to the core and union employees wonder why jobs are leaving the country. They only need to look at their union bosses. The only real raise anyone ever gets is through productivity, the rest is hollow and inflationary. This is not to mention how the union raises harm the rest of the people in the local economy.
There’s a wealth of information out there that proves that ‘right-to-work’ states do better economically than ‘closed-shop’ states. Regardless of how each side is spinning the situation for the press; the central issue here is ‘right-to-work’.
I really don’t understand how anyone who professes to believe in the ‘right’ of a person to work in the job of their choice is able to modify that ‘right’ by saying; “You can work here, as long as you pay for the privilege.”
That’s why collective bargaining isn’t a ‘right’, because it requires a monthly stipend or payment just to keep your job. And I’m almost certain that with an NEA national membership of 3.2 million people that not everyone of them wants their dues to go to the candidates the national decides to support.
In reply to Gestell I would point out that the biggest friend organized labor, including the “yo scab, you like your kneecaps?” mafia-affiliated variety of “labor organizer”, ever had in the White House was Franklin Roosevelt, and even he opposed allowing public-sector employees to organize.
The only thing that makes labor unions a necessity is hostile management. When the “management” is the government official who you spent millions of dollars to get elected, you are not entering into a good-faith negotiation – you are rent seeking. All the more so when the ability to practice a particular profession is subject to compulsory dues-paying membership in the union.
If you want to eliminate all of the labor regulations in the United States, restore the right of employers to refuse to engage in negotiations with labor organizers, and make union membership voluntary and democratic, then by all means I’m in favor of the existence of unions. Deal?
Unions of any type, and especially public sector unions have long out grown their usefulness. Public unions should never have been allowed in any circumstances and the influence of private sector unions should be curtailed by enacting right-to-work laws. Unions apparently believe that it is their responsibility to shield their members from market forces. As a result we we have unqualified teachers and other public sector employees that can’t be easily replaced and destroy the quality of education and public services provided. This condition not only results in unacceptable monetary and economic cost to this Country, but also impacts the productivity of the many hardworking and concerned public sector employees who toil to take up the slack.
Union, however, are only one part of our problem. The other is the our government (i.e. elected representatives) and the impact of a long line of faulty decisions which have caused American jobs to be moved off shore. Combine high labor cost, high regulatory cost, high energy cost, the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and improperly regulated trade with countries where the labor earns pennies per hour, is it any wonder that toys, clothing, electronics, cars, car parts, and most other consumer goods are not manufactured in this Country (eg: exactly zero cell phones are manufactured in the USA).
This needs to change and can change, but it requires a well thought out plan of action. Absolutely, no more knee-jerk legislation designed to pacify one segment of our society, pit one economic class against another, or insure large political contributions from special interest groups. The general welfare of the Country depends on each of us demanding that our federal and state representatives stand for opportunity, freedom, and liberty for the citizens of our Country.
A large part of the problem is that progressives are so ‘connected’ to this idea. In short, public employment is an idealized socialist economy in miniature, including its political aspect: the grateful recipients of government largesse provide money and organizational support to re-elect the politicians who shower them with all of the benefits.
This is why the left is treating any attempt to fundamentally reform the public workers’ paradise as an existential crisis. This is why they are reacting with the most extreme measures short of outright insurrection. When Democratic lawmakers flee the state in order to deprive their legislatures of the quorum necessary to vote, they are declaring that they would rather have no legislature than allow voting on any bill that would break the power of the unions. Keeping alive the progressive ideal of equality of distribution is more important than government. And the elist ofthings progressives find more important than government is a short list indeed.
JQcitizen:
I agree with your observations about unions. Your statement “This needs to change and can change, but it requires a well thought out plan of action” in my estimation is not a long, hard fix. Here is what I would do. 1) Pass the Fair Tax, if you haven’t read the book please don’t tell me that it won’t work. 2) Abolish the National Labor Relations Act passed in 1937 with FDR’s encouragement. 3) Ditto public unions under JFK. 4) abolish the IRS. One would have to hide under a rock in order to not find a job and would have more take home pay than now. Even more important a man’s self esteem would be returned as he proved to himself and the world that he can take care of himself. These ideas take a tsunami of public opinion but if implemented our country and more importantly our people would once again be the envy of the world.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rachel Alexander, IC Politics. IC Politics said: Teachable Moments in Madison: In Wisconsin some are more equal than others. In Wisconsin some are more equal th… http://bit.ly/hNHeFo [...]