Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind by Mallory Factor Page A
Authors: Mallory Factor
Tags: Political Science, Labor & Industrial Relations, Political Science / Labor & Industrial Relations
Ads: Link
stamp recipients, veterans, and even the self-employed could be forcibly unionized.
CHAPTER 9
Insurrection
I N the original
Star Wars
movie, the shadowy forces of the Empire reign over the galaxy with the Emperor, via his henchman Darth Vader and his stormtroopers, controlling every element of citizen life. As the movie opens, the Empire is nearing completion of the Death Star—a battle station capable of destroying entire planets and crushing the Rebel Alliance.
That’s when our hero, Luke Skywalker, stumbles upon an old Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi. After receiving an urgent message from Princess Leia, Obi-Wan explains to Luke the importance of getting involved in the rebellion against the Empire. But Luke resists. Only when Luke finds his village in ruins, his uncle and aunt killed, does he decide to take up his lightsaber to use the Force to fight back against the Empire.
In 2011, Americans across the nation realized that the government employee union Empire had left their fiscal village in ruins. And they decided to join the rebellion.
Preparing for Battle
With no compromise forthcoming from the unions, Walker went to battle to save the finances of his state. His first target was Wisconsin’s law permitting collective bargaining over government employees. This law had stripped government workers of their freedom to negotiatewith employers on their own behalf for over fifty years. And because Wisconsin was a forced-dues state with dues checkoff, union dues were automatically deducted from government employee paychecks as a condition of their employment.
Walker framed his challenge to union power in moral terms. He explained that collective bargaining laws are just plain immoral. “The unions like to talk about collective bargaining,” Walker stated. “Collective bargaining is not a right, collective bargaining is an expensive entitlement and it’s time we put the power back in the hands of the people.” 6 Walker is correct, of course—as we’ve seen, collective bargaining puts money and power in the hands of the Shadowbosses, and it takes away a fundamental right from workers: the right to bargain over their own labor. And of course, forced-dues provisions are even worse.
On February 11, 2011, Walker laid his cards on the table. His budget reform package abolished forced dues for teachers and many other public employees, and also prevented unions from bargaining over these employees’ pensions, benefits, and work rules. Union bosses could still bargain over government employee wages, but “raises could not exceed the increase in the Consumer Price Index unless approved by a referendum” 7 —which effectively meant not much bargaining over wages, either. And also harmful to union power, Wisconsin was going to get out of the dues checkoff business—so no more collecting dues for the union.
A final reform was that government employee unions would have to be recertified by the workers that they represent every year. So workers would now be able to throw off the mantle of the union if enough of them voted against recertification. This proposal scared the unions to death, because for the first time in generations their stranglehold over Wisconsin government employees was actually at risk.
And this meant war.
Walker retained collective bargaining for police and firefighters. Why? Because, after looking at the long, dirty history of union violence, Walker believed that police and fire union chiefs would have fought him by launching illegal strikes.
Walker retained collective bargaining for police and firefighters. Why? Because, after looking at the long, dirty history of unionviolence, Walker believed that police and fire union chiefs would have fought him by launching illegal strikes. He didn’t want burning houses or looting in the streets. 8
Instead, he got the next best thing.
A House Divided
In theory, unions of all kinds are supposed to be united in fraternal solidarity. Indeed, for many years,
CHAPTER 9
Insurrection
I N the original
Star Wars
movie, the shadowy forces of the Empire reign over the galaxy with the Emperor, via his henchman Darth Vader and his stormtroopers, controlling every element of citizen life. As the movie opens, the Empire is nearing completion of the Death Star—a battle station capable of destroying entire planets and crushing the Rebel Alliance.
That’s when our hero, Luke Skywalker, stumbles upon an old Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi. After receiving an urgent message from Princess Leia, Obi-Wan explains to Luke the importance of getting involved in the rebellion against the Empire. But Luke resists. Only when Luke finds his village in ruins, his uncle and aunt killed, does he decide to take up his lightsaber to use the Force to fight back against the Empire.
In 2011, Americans across the nation realized that the government employee union Empire had left their fiscal village in ruins. And they decided to join the rebellion.
Preparing for Battle
With no compromise forthcoming from the unions, Walker went to battle to save the finances of his state. His first target was Wisconsin’s law permitting collective bargaining over government employees. This law had stripped government workers of their freedom to negotiatewith employers on their own behalf for over fifty years. And because Wisconsin was a forced-dues state with dues checkoff, union dues were automatically deducted from government employee paychecks as a condition of their employment.
Walker framed his challenge to union power in moral terms. He explained that collective bargaining laws are just plain immoral. “The unions like to talk about collective bargaining,” Walker stated. “Collective bargaining is not a right, collective bargaining is an expensive entitlement and it’s time we put the power back in the hands of the people.” 6 Walker is correct, of course—as we’ve seen, collective bargaining puts money and power in the hands of the Shadowbosses, and it takes away a fundamental right from workers: the right to bargain over their own labor. And of course, forced-dues provisions are even worse.
On February 11, 2011, Walker laid his cards on the table. His budget reform package abolished forced dues for teachers and many other public employees, and also prevented unions from bargaining over these employees’ pensions, benefits, and work rules. Union bosses could still bargain over government employee wages, but “raises could not exceed the increase in the Consumer Price Index unless approved by a referendum” 7 —which effectively meant not much bargaining over wages, either. And also harmful to union power, Wisconsin was going to get out of the dues checkoff business—so no more collecting dues for the union.
A final reform was that government employee unions would have to be recertified by the workers that they represent every year. So workers would now be able to throw off the mantle of the union if enough of them voted against recertification. This proposal scared the unions to death, because for the first time in generations their stranglehold over Wisconsin government employees was actually at risk.
And this meant war.
Walker retained collective bargaining for police and firefighters. Why? Because, after looking at the long, dirty history of union violence, Walker believed that police and fire union chiefs would have fought him by launching illegal strikes.
Walker retained collective bargaining for police and firefighters. Why? Because, after looking at the long, dirty history of unionviolence, Walker believed that police and fire union chiefs would have fought him by launching illegal strikes. He didn’t want burning houses or looting in the streets. 8
Instead, he got the next best thing.
A House Divided
In theory, unions of all kinds are supposed to be united in fraternal solidarity. Indeed, for many years,
Similar Books
