"(2.) The Unions are agreeing to all give-backs thus negating the finance argument, but not agreeing to give up collective bargaining, which the Gov says is not negotiable."
They did not give up concessions originally. Only after the outcome of the battle was clearly visible, did they offer to compromise. "Given this, the Governor's agenda is clear: kill the unions." Or, fix the root of one one of the financial problems instead of treating the symptom. Wage concessions now do not prevent wage problems 10 years from now. It depends on which side of the aisle you sit on. "So I'm wondering if we're seeing the death of unions. thoughts?" Hopefully of unions for government employees. In the words of FDR: All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees. A strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable. "but more than that, i think we are truly the death of our form of government." Hard to argue against this. "any majority is now considered a 100% mandate to get away with anything and everything a given party wants, and to get it done withing the election cycle now in place . . . " Seems to be the case. That's why a split congress is a good thing. "..., with the hope that even if they get tossed out in the next election, they got everything they wanted." But there is a nice lobbyist job waiting on the other end. "I think unions have outlived their usefulness. There was a time when unions where necessary in this country, but I think that time has long since passed" That is why membership has been steadily decreasing and unions are so militant for card check. "To think that it all happened in just two short years." It started with Woodrow Wilson with great progress forward under FDR and LBJ. "The unions are dead, don't lament them. They started as a way for people to protect themselves; they have become just another private power structure in our society, intent on maximizing gains for their own members at any cost." Exactly. "They suck just as much as Wall Street sucks, just as much as big corporate CEOs who are destroying the middle class suck." No doubt. As an aside: Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to make Democrats hiding out in Illinois come back to Wisconsin to pick up their paychecks.<http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/116686109.html> >From what I understand, legislator is a full time position in WI. Most of these people probably don't need the money. Then again, a legislator who is hard up for cash has to report or he might "borrow" money. That could get messy in terms of ethics though. J - I will worry about the children when they can vote in union elections. - Albert Shanker (president of the American Federation of Teachers) We took names. We watched how they voted. We know where they live. - Andy Stern ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:334611 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
