Unions ally with public employees

Labor unions have seen their future, and it is in the public sector. While union membership has plummeted, along with manufacturing jobs, union visionaries have realized the opportunity that lies before them: organizing government workers. Public sector unionizing is the only growth industry organized labor has seen in the past quarter-century.

Now, the Service Employees International Union, a political powerhouse, wants Congress to require state and local governments to negotiate with unions representing government workers. Such a law would overturn laws in several states, including North Carolina, which specifically prohibits bargaining with or strikes by public sector employees. If passed, the federal legislation would be a payoff for the SEIU's support of a number of powerful Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The problem with collective bargaining with public sector employees is the imbalance of power at the negotiating table. SEIU and its North Carolina affiliate, the State Employees Association of North Carolina, have shown their willingness punish any legislator who opposes their agenda and to threaten all others. "Management," in this case, is at a disadvantage because members of the board of directors (i.e., legislators and other elected officials) are in the pocket of the union that helped to get them elected. There can be no balanced negotiation when labor can influence management behind the scenes through campaign contributions and vote delivery.

Unlike private-sector negotiators, government officials have little incentive to oppose union demands. A corporation has to watch its bottom line and faces market forces that prevent raising prices to pay for too-generous labor costs. A city manager, however, has fewer limits in a labor negotiation. City services are almost always monopolies, so raising prices is no problem. And if more money is needed for higher salaries and better benefits, the city can always raise taxes. It is down this road that states such as California and countries such as Greece discovered the limits of their generosity. If North Carolina, which has prohibited bargaining with public employees for half a century, is forced by federal law recognize and negotiate with labor unions, taxes will inevitably rise.

There should be no right to strike against the public interest. Imagine the chaos — and the anger — if firefighters, police, emergency medical personnel and others went on strike. Even if strikes are prohibited (at first) union members could make their point by, for example, having Highway Patrol troopers ticket every driver doing 56 in a 55 mph zone. Or suppose the entire fire department got sick on the same day. Even with some moderate restrictions, collective bargaining with public employees could lead to chaotic consequences.

Just look at what is happening now, when public sector employees are prohibited from collective bargaining. Public employee "associations" (they're not officially unions in this state) directly lobby legislators for raises and better benefits. They protest loudly against any reductions in force or furloughs. In the past two years, as tens of thousands of private-sector employees have been laid off, the loudest outcry you heard was from state employees over wage freezes, furloughs and very limited layoffs. Public employees in this state enjoy extraordinary benefits, including a defined-benefit pension, which is extremely rare in the private sector now. Public sector pay, which has been safeguarded while recessions reduced private-sector compensation, is at least as good as in the private sector.

Giving public employees the heavy artillery of bargaining to go with their small-arms of political pressure would put government firmly in the hands of public employees, whose primary goal — as has been shown many times — is to look out for themselves. Instead of good government we'd have good-for-me government, and the "me" would be union members, not taxpayers.