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Sunday, February 20, 2011 11:31 AM


Walker Wants to Save 12,000 Jobs; Unions Don't Want Them; Obama Group "Organizing for America" Bussed in Protesters; Walker too Generous to Unions


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Unions don't really want to save jobs. Rather they want every union worker to extort every possible cent from every possible taxpayer. The goal of unions is to do the least work at the most cost.

Governor Walker's proposal will save 12,000 jobs. The union does not care. It would rather fire 12,000 teachers than for all of them to make modest concessions.

I have countless examples to prove that, yet the myth goes on.

If this was really "about the kids" rather than about the greed and arrogance of the public unions, teachers would be in the classroom teaching instead of fraudulently calling in sick, with help of doctors aiding and abetting that fraud.

Please consider 12K State Workers Could Be Fired Without Budget Deal, Wisconsin Governor Warns

If changes aren't made to the benefit contributions paid by Wisconsin's nearly 300,000 public sector employees, about 10,000-12,000 workers will lose their jobs, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker warned Sunday.

"I don't want a single person laid off in the public nor in the private sector and that's why this is a much better alternative than losing jobs," Walker told "Fox News Sunday."

"If we're going to be in this together, (cut) our $3.6 billion budget deficit, it's going to take a whole lot more than just employee contributions when it comes to pensions and health care," Walker said. "But it's got to be a piece of the puzzle because as I saw at the local level, it's like a virus that eats up more and more of the budget if you don't get it under control."

President Obama, whose group Organizing for America, has bused in some of the nearly 70,000 protesters outside the state capitol on Saturday, last week called the bill "an assault on unions."

Under the governor's proposal, unions still could represent workers, but they could not force employees to pay dues and would have to hold annual votes to stay organized. Only wages below the Consumer Price Index would be subject to collective bargaining, anything higher would have to be approved by referendum.
Walker Too Generous

That last paragraph shows that Walker is too generous. Wages should not be subject to collective bargaining at all. Who knows what the CPI will be in a few years? The proposal could in theory balance out given the amounts the workers have to contribute to benefits is not subject to collective bargaining. However, in all likelihood, we would see the same sort of public union reaction during every collective bargaining session.

The ideal approach is to end collective bargaining altogether. Public union workers who do not like their offers would have the same choice as everyone else: accept the job or leave.

Those who think they can make more in the private sector are free to do so. Yes, it really is as simple as that.

Even FDR Understood the Problem

Public unions get into bed with management and politicians and work out sweet deals for themselves at taxpayer expense. No one looks out for the taxpayer. Even FDR understood the problem.

Message From FDR

Inquiring minds are reading snips from a Letter from FDR Regarding Collective Bargaining of Public Unions written August 16, 1937.
All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management.

The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations.

Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees.

A strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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