Only 1 in 13 worker in the private sector pays union dues. In contrast, 51.4% of U.S. union members work for the government. That’s over half!
Government unions offer what is close to lifetime job security and benefits, subject only to gross dereliction of duty. Once a city’s or state’s workers are organized by a union, the jobs almost never go away.
Today, government is the main playing field for modern unionism. As union membership in government has grown so has union clout in pushing politicians for higher wages and benefits. This is why Andy Stern (SEIU) and Rich Trumeka (AFL-CIO) could order Democrats to exempt unions from ObamaCAre’s tax increase on high cost health care insurance plans.
The union’s main goal now is securing a larger share of the overall private economy’s wealth, This means pitting government’s employees against middle-class taxpayers.
It used to be that most Democrats opposed public sector unionism. Such 20th century liberal heroes as New Your Mayor LaGuardia and Roosevelt believed feverently in industrial unions. But they believed that public employees had a special social obligation and could too easily exploit their monopoly position.
Look at the current desperate economic woes of California, New Jersey, New York and other states. All these states have dominant public unions.
Yes, it’s time for reform. The public-union ascendancy needs containment. We need to break the power of government unions to take an ever larger share of private income.
