Unions will not go gentle into that good night!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

UNIONS WILL NOT GO GENTLY INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT!

by Steve Fair

     On the November ballot in the state of Michigan is a proposal called ‘Protect our jobs.”  In a process not unlike Oklahoma’s initiative petition process, the unions in Michigan gathered sufficient voters’ signatures to get the state question on the ballot.  If Proposition #2 is approved, it would prevent Michigan from considering right-to-work legislation.  It would also guarantee public employees the right to collective bargaining.

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     On the Protect our Jobs website, (http://protectourjobs.com/)there are seven things enumerated the proposal would do if approved.  One would prohibit employers from retaliating against their employees for exercising their rights to organize or join a labor union.  With the exception of one, the other six are currently a violation of federal labor law .  The one that is not federal law is the guaranteeing of ‘public employees’ the right to collective bargain.  

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     “Protect our jobs” is a reaction by labor unions to what happened in Wisconsin last year when Republican Governor Scott Walker signed a bill that eliminated collective bargaining for public workers in his state.  Last week, a county judge in Madison, Wisconsin overturned the law.  In his opinion, Judge Juan Colas also said the law violates the equal protection clause by creating separate classes of workers who are treated differently and unequally.  This ruling was not unexpected and Governor Walker has already stated it will be appealed.

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     Kristine Michaelson, an RN and a member of the Michigan Nurse’s union is an advocate for public employee’s unions and says on the POJ’s website; “Collective bargaining is what built this country and collective bargaining is what has obtained a lot of benefits for people that they don’t even realize. The 15-minute break – that is not a law; that has been negotiated. People died to have the weekends off, they died for the 8-hour day. And a lot of these things that have been fought for many, many years ago are being lost and just taken away in the blink of an eye.” 

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     Humm! Did our founding fathers and other ‘heros proved in liberating strife’ die for the fifteen minute break as Nurse. Michaelson states?  To even address the absurdity of the statement seems a waste of time, but the rights in the U.S. Constitution do not include the guarantee of a job to every person. 

The Constitution doesn’t guarantee any American the right to a job that pays you what you think you are worth.  It guarantees Americans the liberty and opportunity to place their skills into the marketplace where they are brought and sold.

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     As a wise man once told me, “We all work for ourselves. If we don’t like our job or the wages, we can always quit and find someone who will pay for our services.”  No truer words were ever spoken.  I realize that is a lot easier said than done.  Most people stay in their dead-end jobs because of fear.   They are unwilling to take the risk of not having a job.  Some employers take advantage of those people and underpay them.  But the truth is, those tyrannical short-sighted employers ultimately reap what they sow in lost productivity.

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     Mistreating of employees was the reason came into existence.  In the late nineteen century, employers were mistreating workers(long hours/low wages) and there was no government oversight- no federal labor laws. Disgruntled employees organized and negotiated with their bosses for better wages and working conditions- including the 15 minute break.  Initially labor unions made a difference and working conditions and wages improved.  But unions have long since outlived their usefulness.  Most of the gains unions helped workers achieve during their inception are now federal law.  Many large unions now exist only to protect lazy member workers who are the least productive from getting fired.

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     But big labor will not go down without a fight.  Now, their battleground is to work to protect public employees, who are already protected by federal law and who work for the taxpayer. They fight right-to-work laws- which give the worker the choice as to whether they join a union or not.  Unions know that without mandatory compulsion membership, they would die.  They use union dues to support the liberal left agenda and give overwhelmingly to Democrats. 

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     Governor Mitt Romney says, “Workers should have the right to join unions. But unions should not be forced upon workers. And unions should not have the power to take money our of their members' paychecks to buy the support of politicians that are favored by the union bosses.”