Private sector unions are not the problem. It’s public sector unions, any union member paid for by tax payer money, that’s being a real drag on state and local budgets and burdening state income taxes and property taxes. Elected officials mostly have given the store away during contract negotiations, some are waking up now to pension plans that can’t possibly be funded etc.
I’m a state government employee, in a state where positions are funded by oil revenue, not a state income tax.
Wages are lower than private sector, but there is a good but not excessive, retirement plan. I don’t pay into social secuirty, the equivalent amount by the state and my contributions are put in a personal account that I can control investment in. I have something similar to a 401K and health insurance, but no great pie in the sky superplan. I don’t buy into the idea that public employees are paid outrageous wages or don’t do a lot of work. I’ve been in IT for the past 18 years and certainly stay busy. I am not getting rich, but I’m putting in time at work and don’t have debt and don’t take crazy vacations but I do all right.
It’s easy to make a group a scapegoat, but not every group deserves it.
They shouldn't be funded now...They should have been funded from the get-go and there wouldn't be any pension problems now...Why condemn the unions for the failures of the state appointed managers???