Should Government Employees be Unionized

By Charles Tolleson

Wisconsin republicans are trying to pass a bill that would prohibit state government employees, except police and fire people, from forming unions. The democrats and their union worker base are saying government employees should have collective bargaining rights.

Everyone seems to link government employees with private sector employees when it comes to collective bargaining. Some people think

both government and private sector employees should have the right to belong to a union. The two groups however are not equal in providing products and services to the consumers.

Government employees operate by force and under a monopoly. Their customers do not have the choice to go to another provider of services if the cost from the government employees for that service is too high and the service is poor. If private sector employees of a company gain above market pay, by unions or otherwise, then the consumers can go to another company that provides those private sector products at a cheaper cost and with better service.

Government organized workers become lobbyists to create jobs, jobs that produce nothing, for the government employees.

Government unionized workers pay union dues, which come from the taxpayer. These union dues in turn are used to elect other government employees, politicians, who will give the government employees what they want. The government employees, politicians, get what they want in return, elected. Most of the government mob’s union dues go to the democrat party candidates. No wonder a republican governor in Wisconsin is trying to prohibit government employee unions, unions that support his opponents.

Yesterday was a rainy and cold day in my condo neighborhood. The private landscapers hired by my homeowners association were at their regular scheduled work. I went to five city parks and saw no government employees, anywhere. On clear days when I do see the city park employees in their work environment, I see them moving around so slowly I think they should be arrested for loitering. The doddling done by a crew of two government park employees could be done by one private sector employee. Government employees have better pay, vacation, and more personal days off than private sector employees. Private sector employees have to work ten years more, 55 for government employees and 65 for private employees, to get full retirements.

Many government retirees get cost of living raises in the pensions. Government employees think their pensions are sacrosanct, untouchable, no matter how dire their pensions’ fiscal situation. When Colorado passed a law reducing the COLAs of 3.5% for retirees, the Public Employees Retirement Association filed a lawsuit to block the legislation on the grounds they have a valid contract with the State. My private sector pension has no COLA and it was reduced by 18% due to the company I worked for going bankrupt. Despite my pension reduction, I still have to pay taxes for those retired government employees to live as elites, elites who retired younger than I retired.

The government union employees represents that democracy is one group plundering another group. The government employees have become the new aristocrats and their servants are the private sector producing taxpayers. Some government employees who retired due to disability, (sore back, stress, etc), do not even have to pay income taxes on their pensions.

“Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work.” Albert Einstein

Charles Tolleson