I actually worked for a PEU in CA and the things I learned about union politics were mind boggling. Taxpayers are the enemy to them. And they’ve got the best retirement gig because the, unlike private business that can go bankrupt, the gov’t will never lose their revenue source, the taxpayers, and can force higher taxes to pay pensions.
What they are discovering here in NJ is that they CAN lose their revenue source (taxpayers); we’ve been bleeding them for years, and tax caps put in place by Governor Christie prevent them from having their revenge at our expense. Foreigners and welfare populations will remain, but they aren’t a viable revenue source; the same non-contributing parasites that are the source of teachers’ jobs are not a source of tax revenue; we’ve been shedding teachers for years as well.