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12/17/2010
Union members aren’t greedy

I’m filling up the blog today with Patrick McIlheran because he says a whole lot of what needs to be said about public sector unions and negotiations in Wisconsin. Emphasis is mine.

…. Public employees cost us a lot, but it isn’t because they’re greedy. Generally, they aren’t. They took the proffered deal, and who of us in their place wouldn’t do the same? It’s a good deal. If your boss pays well, even too well, you’d say no? No. Nor are unions greedy. [AFSCME Executive Director Marty] Beil may be an intemperate boor, but when unions push for cushy contracts, they are fulfilling their mission. Their members pay dues precisely so that unions will bargain for contracts as rich as can be obtained. If there is fault, it lies in the elected officials who are supposed to bargain hard in return. This, at last, we’re going to get with Walker, who grasps that his job is to get as much work for the taxpayers’ scarce dollars as possible.

None of this is personal. That’s supposed to be what collective bargaining brings about, a depersonalization of negotiations….

…. Walker has spent most of his working days surrounded by public-sector employees. He appears to get along well with an unusual number of them, having hired them. If he bears in his heart some categorical dislike of public-sector employees, his selection of career makes him the most self-torturing of men, and Walker betrays no hint of such torment.

yes, public sector pay and especially benefits are by reasonable, rational criteria overpriced. If it’s visceral dislike, then one never needs examine the arguments that Walker has been making, such as the radically higher share of payroll that goes to benefits in the public sector compared to private. Those are numbers, and Walker has many of them. They’re hard to dismiss.

Read the whole thing.

Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net

COMMENTS

Negotiated by elected officials? No, they have no skin in the game. Much easier for them to be viewed as Santa Clause, even though the money they give away is somebody else's.

Politicians should be on a pay-for-performance basis, like they propose for the teachers. Increased state deficit translates to lower salary. Increased private contracts also translates to lower salary.

Jack Lohman (Fri Dec 17 07:03:52 2010)

"The proper business of a labor union is to get higher wages, better hours and good shop conditions for the workmen. But when labor en masse plunks its vote for its own party, then the spirit of party loyalty begins to obscure labor's objectives -- high wages, short hours, decent shop conditions. Thus class-conscious labor leaders become more interested in their party welfare than in the fundamental objectives of the labor unions. So we shall have the class-conscious political worker trading his vote not for the immediate objective of wages, hours and shop conditions, but for power for his political labor boss."

-WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE, speech, Sep. 20, 1937

Submitted, not written, by Andrew

Andrew Ellis (Fri Dec 17 08:13:51 2010)

Negotiated by elected officials? No, they have no skin in the game. Much easier for them to be viewed as Santa Clause, even though the money they give away is somebody else's.

Sorry, Jack, but you're just plain wrong. I've been there (actually AM there now), done that, doing that. We can bargain as hard as we want, and in the end the union can "just say no."

With binding arbitration we have a great deal for public sector unions. It's called "we win, you lose." I've never seen a case where the public sector union rejected a county's offer, went to arbitration and didn't come back with a decision to give them at least as much as they were demanding from the municipal employer.

As long as interest arbitration is the law of the land in Wisconsin the taxpayers' representatives are helpless to stop the steamrolling by public sector unions. My hope is that Scott Walker and the new majority in the Wisconsin Legislature will end this public travesty forever.

Duke (Fri Dec 17 08:56:13 2010)

We certainly have a couple of very interesting years ahead. My question is can Walker and company do what needs to be done? I fear he will not be able to do it.

Jo, can you put a small Santa picture on your blog next week? Maybe a manger scene?

David (Fri Dec 17 09:06:26 2010)

Right on Andrew. You hit it perfect.

John Hyland (Fri Dec 17 09:12:40 2010)

Yes, unions are hungry for more. But so then is everyone else. Take a good look at yesterday's blog, particularly Senator Coburn's list of intended recipients for "pork" in the omnibus appropriations bill.

Clearly all sectors of society are greedy. Let's stop fingering unions alone as the bad guys. Sure they deserve the attention of fiscal conservatives, but no more or no less than any other group that clamors for taxpayer money.

The goal, I would posit, is to reduce or eliminate governmental spending regardless of political favoritism. Any and all recipients then become subject to intense scrutiny as to the supposed social benefit of tax support.

Dennis (Fri Dec 17 09:32:59 2010)

Dennis, you will not eliminate "political favoritism" as long as businesses and unions can fund the political campaigns. We will continue having these wild extremes until we fix the campaign funding system.

Jack Lohman (Fri Dec 17 10:13:03 2010)

Jack, perhaps we can start by putting a tight chain on lobbying. No gifts/contributions/educational seminars, including meals, over $100 in a calendar year.

Dennis (Fri Dec 17 15:55:06 2010)

The problem is not lobbying, Dennis, it's lobbying with cash in hand. I've struggled with this for years, and respect freedom of speech arguments. But have some to the conclusion that the only thing that will work is public funding of campaigns for those candidates that don't want to be beholden to special interests.

Jack Lohman (Fri Dec 17 18:45:21 2010)

There'd be nothing to lobby for, if the govt didn't redistribute wealth via earmarks, pork, subsidies, grants, and special contracts to businesses. FYI, my state senator told us how much he makes, and it's less than HALF what the UNelected govt officials (e.g in DATCP) make. Why do we "need" all these officials?

EMILY MATTHEWS (Sat Dec 18 09:42:22 2010)

Emily, we need all of these legislators because we don't want power concentrated in the hands of a very few. I favor MORE legislators but with ONE term of six years. It is the second term where the biggest bribes begin to flow from both business and labor interests.

Jack Lohman (Sat Dec 18 10:23:12 2010)

My apologies for misunderstanding, Emily, you were concerned about govt leaders (not legislators), and I agree. They are indeed overpaid.

And on earmarks too, but those are given to corporate Fat cats that fund the campaigns, thus they are here until we get rid of the political corruption in that system.

Jack Lohman (Sat Dec 18 11:47:53 2010)

duke get some facts before you talk please you never seem a case, then i just you dont know how to search for true facts.

I yet to see one business say no the poor people are having a tough time right now i will lower my priceses

joe (Sun Dec 19 10:22:34 2010)

Well, there are varying viewpoints. While I agree that public sector employees need to hold the line on salaries and benefits -- as we did here in Appleton, we should be careful with sweeping generalities about overcompensated public sector workers.

In a 2010 study by Keith A. Bender and John S. Heywood, two UW-Milwaukee economics professors, "Out of Balance: Comparing Public and Private Sector Compensation over 20 Years", they conclude:

"In this study we found that state and local workers are compensated less than their private sector counterparts. We implemented a standard comparability exercise, using the CPS and following common methodological choices that reflect the heart of the discipline. Our results of lower compensation for state and local workers are consistent with previous findings, and we expand on them. The differentials were evident by 2000 in the work of others, and the patterns identified have either remained or grown since then. Although a comparison of unadjusted average earnings will show that wages are higher among jobs in state and local government, this result is largely due to the fact that the workers in those sectors have more education. Holding education and other characteristics the same, typical state and local workers earn an average of 11 percent less and 12 percent less, respectively, than comparable private sector workers."

Terry Dawson (Mon Dec 20 17:20:49 2010)

More than one think tank questioned the accuracy of the UWM study.

Jo (Mon Dec 20 19:45:54 2010)

Why should public employees get better salaries, pensions, vacations, sick days, health, dental, days off, time to retirement than the people that pay their salaries???

The Conservative Digest

Dohnal (Sun Dec 26 18:16:19 2010)

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