Time to bust public sector unions
There are two classes of citizens in America today — those who work in the private sector being paid modest wages and with modest benefits, and those who work in the public sector who get generous wages and gold-plated benefits.
And it is the former who pay the high tax burden that supports the latter.
Public sector employees, with a few exceptions, have become latter-day government aristocrats while private sector employees and small businesses have become their serfs.
It is that dichotomy which was the basis for the rise of the Tea Party movement in the 2010 elections that tossed out of office many pro-government liberals and brought a host of Republicans to power in Washington D.C. and many state governments.
At its core, the Tea Party movement was the beginning of a revolt of the private sector against the high taxes to support the lifestyles of the public sector.
And it is that clash of class interests which is at the heart of the political wrangling in Wisconsin, New Jersey, New York, California and other states today. In those and other states, governors and legislatures are taking on public sector employee unions in an effort to close huge budget deficits.
Those deficits were caused by public sector employees having been given overly-generous pension and health care benefits, a cost that is now pushing some states toward fiscal disaster.
Public employees are, of course, having a fit. They have been marching on state capitols to protest any move toward reducing their cushy benefits.
Spoiled babies. They have no idea how good they have it. In Wisconsin, public union employees have multiple public paid pension plans, retirement health care plans, etc.
After the economic decline, the real cost of those benefits to taxpayers has been exposed to the public. With states no longer taking in massive amounts of taxes from growth, the financial bill has come due. The current public employee benefit program is unsustainable.
All of this is a real threat to the Democratic Party, hence the behind-the-scenes moves of the Obama Administration to support public sector unions in this fight at the state level. Unions pump millions of dollars into Democratic races; if public unions are weakened by this pension fight in the states, Democrats stand to lose their base at the national level.
But public sector unions need to be busted. In fact, collective bargaining should not be allowed by any public sector union at any level of government.
The reason is simple: By using union dues to make political donations, public sector unions have an outsized influence on government, an influence that goes against taxpayer interest. Taxpayers have no way to offset that financial influence of unions. They only get the bill.
The result: Public employees were given overly generous benefits with pensions, health care and wages by elected officials. Now those states are broke because they can’t afford what they promised.
Something has to give and taxpayers should not have to cough up more money to pay public sector crybabies who are marching in Madison, Wisconsin and comparing their Republican governor to Hitler. (So much for Obama’s call for “civility.” That apparently doesn’t apply to the unionized fringe left wing, which has in Wisconsin been most uncivil in its protest language.)
While Georgia does not allow public sector collective bargaining, the same kind of mentality exists here as well. From local to state governments, many public sector employees have much higher wages and better benefits than their counterparts in the private sector.
Nowhere is there more waste and over-compensation in local government than in public education where administrators in many school systems are vastly overpaid and overstaffed. The Jackson County School System is a perfect example of how financial largess and the rewarding of self and friends is out of control. To say JCSS leaders are out of touch with taxpayers is an understatement — the system’s administrative pay scale is far too generous no matter how you measure it.
It’s time for taxpayers to revolt against the public sector aristocracy and their egregious compensation. But rather than wait on Washington to fix the problem, we have to start here at home with our local city, county and school system governments.
That’s why this newspaper will continue to publish local government officials’ pay and benefits and examine the financial condition of our local government agencies. Much more accountability is needed.
It is, after all, your money that pays the wages and benefits of public sector employees.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com. Click here to read the publisher's blog.
Public sector employees, with a few exceptions, have become latter-day government aristocrats while private sector employees and small businesses have become their serfs.
It is that dichotomy which was the basis for the rise of the Tea Party movement in the 2010 elections that tossed out of office many pro-government liberals and brought a host of Republicans to power in Washington D.C. and many state governments.
At its core, the Tea Party movement was the beginning of a revolt of the private sector against the high taxes to support the lifestyles of the public sector.
And it is that clash of class interests which is at the heart of the political wrangling in Wisconsin, New Jersey, New York, California and other states today. In those and other states, governors and legislatures are taking on public sector employee unions in an effort to close huge budget deficits.
Those deficits were caused by public sector employees having been given overly-generous pension and health care benefits, a cost that is now pushing some states toward fiscal disaster.
Public employees are, of course, having a fit. They have been marching on state capitols to protest any move toward reducing their cushy benefits.
Spoiled babies. They have no idea how good they have it. In Wisconsin, public union employees have multiple public paid pension plans, retirement health care plans, etc.
After the economic decline, the real cost of those benefits to taxpayers has been exposed to the public. With states no longer taking in massive amounts of taxes from growth, the financial bill has come due. The current public employee benefit program is unsustainable.
All of this is a real threat to the Democratic Party, hence the behind-the-scenes moves of the Obama Administration to support public sector unions in this fight at the state level. Unions pump millions of dollars into Democratic races; if public unions are weakened by this pension fight in the states, Democrats stand to lose their base at the national level.
But public sector unions need to be busted. In fact, collective bargaining should not be allowed by any public sector union at any level of government.
The reason is simple: By using union dues to make political donations, public sector unions have an outsized influence on government, an influence that goes against taxpayer interest. Taxpayers have no way to offset that financial influence of unions. They only get the bill.
The result: Public employees were given overly generous benefits with pensions, health care and wages by elected officials. Now those states are broke because they can’t afford what they promised.
Something has to give and taxpayers should not have to cough up more money to pay public sector crybabies who are marching in Madison, Wisconsin and comparing their Republican governor to Hitler. (So much for Obama’s call for “civility.” That apparently doesn’t apply to the unionized fringe left wing, which has in Wisconsin been most uncivil in its protest language.)
While Georgia does not allow public sector collective bargaining, the same kind of mentality exists here as well. From local to state governments, many public sector employees have much higher wages and better benefits than their counterparts in the private sector.
Nowhere is there more waste and over-compensation in local government than in public education where administrators in many school systems are vastly overpaid and overstaffed. The Jackson County School System is a perfect example of how financial largess and the rewarding of self and friends is out of control. To say JCSS leaders are out of touch with taxpayers is an understatement — the system’s administrative pay scale is far too generous no matter how you measure it.
It’s time for taxpayers to revolt against the public sector aristocracy and their egregious compensation. But rather than wait on Washington to fix the problem, we have to start here at home with our local city, county and school system governments.
That’s why this newspaper will continue to publish local government officials’ pay and benefits and examine the financial condition of our local government agencies. Much more accountability is needed.
It is, after all, your money that pays the wages and benefits of public sector employees.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com. Click here to read the publisher's blog.
Also, you may have generalized a bit too much, in the area where I work (Northern VA, DC, Maryland), public sector employees earn less and have less benefits than private sector employees. However, I get your point...
Good Op-Ed, though.
You need to read a WSJ article from a couple days ago that outlines what Wisconsin public employees get in benefits... it's really amazing...for example, not only do they get free health care paid by the state while they work, they get it paid by the state even after they retire.. and their union controls the health care insurance, so they get to decide what benefits are covered!
Dunno about pay scales you mention, but many studies have shown that for the most part, public employees get better compensation than the private sector for similar jobs...
Thanks for commenting.
The time is near for this kind of stuff to end, or at least be slowed. So long as you and the other three members of nationwide press will continue to bring these types of issues to the forefront, there is always a chance.
The Democratic Party has been playing "Class-warfare" for too long. Getting away with it, too. Promise minorities, unions, gays, and anyone else who coattails the party to get what they "want" from government, either as an entitlement or re-directed public funds funneled back in a sophisicated manner to back / support more elections of folks who "play be the rules".
Unions get the most "backing" of these liberal politicians because they handle money. Lots and lots of money. Most everyone else who is "courted" by the left is wanting something for free. This is why the marriage of unions and big government is so crucial. Once the vote is cast in an election, which essentially is all a Democrat can expect to get from say..a welfare reciepient or someone seeking an entitlement, it's over. But Unions, that is another horse all together, that influence and support is good throughout the year / term / cycle, etc,...
The time is now that you can essentially make a choice. Do you want unions or American-made products, that supply "real" jobs, created by entrepreneurs, who invest capital, hire people, pay them non-inflated earnings and benefits that are competitive with their constituents? It's simple really.
Unions strangled the car market. Killed it. Government then bailed it out. All with private sector tax money. Anyone who can;t see the problem in that equation needs to concentrate better and pay attention.
Great article Mike.
Thanks for the article, nicely done!
Please. You can't be serious. Let me go back and find the editorial regarding billions wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or the editorial decrying the billions of taxpayer dollars handed over to the financial houses directly responsible for driving the economy over the cliff.
Wake up people, it's not the teachers, firefighters, nor police officers who are responsible for the mess we as a country find ourselves in today, it's the corporate plutocracy that sees us as nothing more than pods in the matrix.
United we stand, divided we fall.
I have not heard of one elected official say they would cut their pay and benefits to help
what is supposed to be a (United States) ,to recover!
I do not agree with most of the propaganda being spread around today . One thing is the fact that the police or fireman putting their lives on the line everyday.
How do they risk anymore than lets say a roofer or a House framer or anyone else for that matter.Did they not know the risk when they took the job?
I remember a quote from Joe Foss in his biography where he said that you shouldn't take a public job if you need the job or the money because you wouldn't do the work of the people !
I have family and friends who are firemen and policemen and I also have family who are teachers some still working some retired .
The firemen and the policemen both work part time jobs and and the teachers too. Very rarely do the police or firefighters do anything that actually risk their lives.
What about the Volunteer fireman from the rural areas ? There seems to be so many questions and nobody seems to want to be honest and have an open honest discussion about these things.
I have an older brother working in the IBEW who recently told me all they were hiring was Illegal's ! Why is that ? To get up membership and dues to launder the money right back to the politicians who then give them the things mentioned above or whatever they want ?
I also have a brother in law who has worked in his profession for the past 15 years without being union on Union job sites. He was recently assigned to
work at Plant Vogel and he was strong armed by the union and told he would have to join or sit at home until some other assignment came up.
I thought Georgia was a right to work State?
I could go on and on about my personal first
hand knowledge about all these things ,however I think most people would get my point.
We have to restore honor and integrity in our country.
Remember that none of these things can be done to us if we don't let the supposed Government
of the people by the people and for the people continue to do these corrupt,immoral and Unconstitutional things to us. Period !!!
You say, " . . . the private sector [is] paid modest wages and with modest benefits, and those who work in the public sector [get] generous wages and gold-plated benefits.
For comparison sake, why don't you publish the modest wages and benefits that you and your staff make so that we can see understand how unfair it is to be a teacher.
But I suspect you'd like to keep us in the dark about YOUR salary and benefits, even though you have no qualms about posting the earnings and benefits that others receive. How are we supposed to understand how outrageous the situation is if you won't provide the comparative details?
"Nothing to compare here. Move along. Don't look behind the curtain."
Well I say your unsubstantiated assertions are flat out wrong, and your unwillingness to provide any supporting data more or less makes my point for me.
Private business is another matter. But when the government bails out a union company like GM, then the union should have been banned but it wasn't. In fact the UAW now owns part of GM. It's sickening. They ruined the company and then they got part ownership and billions in taxpayer funding for their new company. What a deal! No thank you. I'll buy Japanese before I'll ever by another Chevy.
As president Lincoln once stated, there are too many pigs for the tits.
http://questioningwithboldness.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/video-government-union-collective-bargaining-101-by-heritage-foundation/
It's a short video and it uses small words.
As for you, Tom, you are also mistaken! My husband is in the Automotive field. We cannot afford benefits through his employer. I could buy private insurance for less than what he can get it for. He has worked at three dealerships and none of them offered a benefits package that was anywhere near affordable, especially compared to what they earn. The dealerships may bump prices up but it's not for the benefit of the mechanics. Down here, without a union, my husband doesn't get guaranteed pay. He could sit at work for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week (which is the norm) and if no work comes in or if someone he works with doesn't like "yankees", he gets paid NOTHING! All of that money lines the pockets of the owners and management (and in some cases, their family members who don't even work there!)
Yes, I am from the north where the Unions are dominant, and while there are always going to be people who abuse the system (as is true in any program), the Union's time has not passed. They may need an overhaul but I still believe in them and what they stand for.
Instead of assuming ALL public sector employees are overpaid, why don't you have someone look into that before you make rash statements. Two of the hardest jobs I've ever done were in the Public Sector and that is the least I've ever been paid. I choose to do it, but I choose it because I need the benefits. Don't punish the ones who actually work. Look at the big picture and go after management!
Yes, I could leave but I choose to stay for THE BENEFITS.
I've written this before in this online paper but it bears repeating, if you're not making enough money go to school. There are ample federal funds to get an education. There are loans and grants (that you don't have to pay back) for anyone. It's never been easier to get an education. There is no age limit! Get your fannies out there and learn a skill. Following this path will make it unnecessary for you to join a gang, ur union to get fat benefits at the expense of your neighbors who pay taxes out of the REAL economy. (private)
Only whiners need unions. I've never seen them help a good worker. They only bring the worst up to par. (and I'm a northerner too) And you know, I've never known a Southerner to discriminate against someone from up north. If you have skills then someone will need you, even if you're from Mars.
I am currently going to school and have a pretty good resume, so I'm not as uneducated as you assume. I come from a long line of hard workers and the Union did right by them. I don't come from a family of abusers. Yes, there is always scum that rises to the top but that's true in any organization!
I'll admit my dad had a great retirement package but he earned it through lack income. That's the trade-off. I look at it like this: should have been earning more per hour but that money was instead put aside for him and paid to him at a later date in the form of RETIREMENT. He worked for them for over 30 years so believe me when I say, he earned it.
And as for Anonymous in comment #5: I also know public safety workers who have been shot and will no longer lead the life they were able to lead before. They get out there and protect you and that's the 'thanks' you give them? I know what the pay scale looks like here and most of them don't make enough to support a family on their income alone. It's not until you start getting over the Captain's rank that they start making money and at that point, they aren't exposed to any danger.
Like I said, do you want a bunch of uneducated,unskilled people working for your government?
How do you know it was because he was a Yankee? Maybe he's hard to get along with. Maybe he's so much better than his coworkers that they feel threatened. Maybe it's because of the big mole in the middle of his forehead! (just kidding)
We all face challenges. Some people take to us and some don't. I never cry discrimination. It's counterproductive. It doesn't help and there's little anyone can do about it. Don't like it? Fire your company. That, is the American way. I'm losing count of how many I've fired. (It works both ways)
A good mechanic is worth a lot. I find it hard to believe that a good mechanic has to lean on the "I've been discriminated against because I'm a Yankee card."
Mike, I think it is high time you took your own advice. Every editorial you write is the same message - public sector employees have it better than private. Well, you knew what you signed up for, and so do public employees. If you hate it so much, get out of the private sector. Otherwise, find a new soapbox to write on, because this one has gotten really tired.
As far as educators go, you can blow that smoke somewhere else. If it was such an easy job everyone would do it. Same goes for public sector jobs. They have benefit packages for a reason. They get paid their wages for a reason. Why don't you publish something else for a change?