Faltering unions

townhall.com ^ | March 16, 2005 | Linda Chavez

[PRND21]

Despite an unprecedented political spending frenzy, unions lost big in last year's elections.

Bravo!

[camle]

perhaps if the unions started advocating for their membership rather than being in bed with the liberal democrats, people would see some benifit in joining, eh?

[2banana]

Two thoughts:

Public unions are growing by leaps and bounds. They can't be fired and are rarely laid off. And they have no competition.

When GM or Ford or Cat announces big layoffs, sometimes I think it is a good thing (which is strange) - less union workers = less union dues = less money for marxist candidates. I also affects the cars I buy. The unions are destroying themselves and their companies with their political views...

[anniegetyourgun]

Their "leadership" has completely lost touch with the needs of the rank-and-file. They are incapable of advocating for the members because they don't really know them. The mission of today's union is to be an auxilliary to the DNC....nothing more, nothing less.

These recent dues increases are designed with Howard Dean in mind....and you can bet that they are foremost in Howard's screamin' mind these days.

[MisterRepublican]

Unions+Democrats=Organized Crime.

[Fierce Allegiance]

That is one of the beetter headlines I've seen in a while!

[donozark]

Time to pass the NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK ACT!

[oceanview]

that is the important point from this article. its the concentration of union power in government and municipal and public education workers, because they take money from those of us in the private sector to fund their compensation packages. and as private sector unions decline, so are wages and benefits for private sector workers, whether they are unionized or not. we are going to reach a point in this country where most of the traditional middle class has a government job of some kind - even health care workers are quasi government employees because government pays so much of the health care bills - leaving private sector workers hanging onto the wage scale by their fingertips, while being taxed to fund a base of workers in government who are unionized.

[zek157]

My Grandfather was a Wobbly organizer (Workers of the World), but todays unions lost everything they once stood for and will one day have to fight for again in a different generation.

For today they can go to hell and go broke. They are right there with the ACLU imho.

[Wil H]

They are incapable of advocating for the members because they don't really know them.

Know them? They don't need to know them, they just tell them what they should or should not do.

[wideawake]

I wonder how much money would be saved if government unions were abolished.

[2banana]

You are right on - at one time a government job was a low paying job with decent benefits and security. Now they have gold plated benefits, magnificent pensions and pay scales above the private sector. That is OK, they can always raise taxes to pay for it.

In Philly, near where I live, the mass transit agency (SPETA) is bankrupt yet the SEPTA union workers threatened to go on strike if they had to pay one dollar towards their health insurance...they live in a fantasy world.

[Pittsburg Phil]

"Time to pass the NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK ACT!"

Yes, yes, yes. Federal right-to-work legislation would reform unions in that they would finally have to either represent their memebrs or go the way of the USSR. This would be a blow to the lefties that now control the Democratic party.

[aspiring.hillbilly]

The union concept is a fading relic of the last century and needs to wither and die. It fosters shoddy workmanship, goldbricking on the job and unneeded costs to companies and consumers. It weakens our competative position as a nation. Unions and their partners in slime---the ratty sordid demoncraps need to go down in flames!

[anniegetyourgun]

You know it. The union leadership uses and abuses their constituency....they are dues pimps.

[jaydubya2]

"Time to pass the NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK ACT!"
I'm all for that! I hate what my union dues with my dues. But Indiana is not a "right to work state" so I have no choice but to stay in the union if I want to keep my job.

[oceanview]

same thing here in NYC - they raised tolls on bridges again (one bridge costs $9 to cross) - most of it goes for municipal salaries and pensions. its not the salaries that are so bad, its the pensions. public school teachers go out with 90% pension - on a $100K salary, they take a $90K yearly pension for life. And no politician says a word about it.

[Moral Hazard]

One of the main problems the Unions have is that they are spreading themselves way too thin politically. They take up a number of left wing causes that have nothing to do with their function as a union. This has the effect that:
1) They put much of their effort into issues that won't help them.
2) They lock themselves into supporting only Democrats, eliminating any leverages they may have with Republicans
3) They alienate their workers that might agree with them on issues that directly affect their union, but not on all the other left-wing agenda. If they were narrowly focused, they might actually be able to swing the votes of their member to whichever candidate they endorse.

[ALPAPilot]

As a union member I can concur with all the posts. Last summer ALPA president Duane Worthe wrote an (surprise) anti-Bush editorial in the union magazine "Airline Pilot." He derided the Bush tax cuts because it would take money from airspace infrastructure improvements. So I'm thinking this moron wants to take money away from our customer (drive down demand) and use it to increase the amount of available flights (increase supply). That's great, just drive down the prices so more airlines can go bankrupt. I don't even bother listening to them anymore. I do enjoy driving to work with my W sticker on my truck though.