
<p>President Biden is an old-line pro-union politician. ; Thanks to the Democratic Party, the Government at all levels has become union advocates and recruiters. ; Biden’s cliché promise is to “create jobs – <strong>good union jobs.</strong>”</p>



<p>I am not suggesting that we should be anti-union, but only that the question of unionization should be left to the unions and employers to work it out on a case-by-case basis – with management and workers making the decision. ; Government should not be putting a thumb on the scale in favor of unions – and it is a very heavy thumb, indeed.</p>



<p><strong>Private sector unions</strong></p>



<p>To better understand the issue, it is important to see the role unions play in America today. ; Approximately 7.1 million workers belong to unions. ; That is approximately 6.3 percent of the work force. ; That is right. ; Approximately 94 percent of private sector workers do NOT belong to unions – and that does not include the freelance workers. ; ;</p>



<p>That may come as a surprise to most folks in view of the emphasis Democrat politicians place on union membership. ; There is a significant distinction between private sector unions and public sector unions – a distinction in both numbers and impact. ; But first we will deal with the private sector unions.</p>



<p>The political power of the private sector is obviously not in the numbers of members. ; It is even less than the number since many union workers do not vote as their Democratic-aligned union bosses demand The union power is in the money – the control of huge pension funds and MASSIVE donations to Democrat politicians.</p>



<p>The Democratic Party kowtows to the unions because of the campaign contributions. ; Simple as that. ; From the private sector’s rather puny place among the working class, unions still control the Department of Labor (DOL). ; The Secretary of Labor is almost always from the union ranks – and unions have the eight-ball power over any nominee – from the Secretary to the many subordinate positions. ;</p>



<p>I have often said that either the DOL should be renamed “The Department of ORGANIZED Labor” or the DOL’s mandate should be expanded to represent ALL American Labor – especially small employers that are the backbone of the American economy, and are relatively powerless in Washington.</p>



<p>Even as they have shrunk in their coverage of workers, the private sector unions have maintained one huge benefit – an unjustified one, in my opinion. ; Virtually all government contracts require unionized contractors. ; This is nothing more of less a government subsidy. ; The decision to be unionized is no longer an issue between management and labor &#8212; but is forced unionization by government. ; In other words, private workers hired by government must be drawn from that six percent of the working population – eliminating 94 percent of the potential workers.</p>



<p>That means not that government (the taxpayers) have only a small pool of contractors from which to draw. ; It also means a much higher cost. ; With lots of government money chasing limited contractors and you know what you get &#8212; inflation. ; Higher cost and more waste and graft. ; The current policies are not only unfair, they are … I will say it … stupid.</p>



<p>Biden’s Climate Change legislation goes one step further than merely requiring government contractors to be union shops. ; It creates a scheme to give union shops a significant marketing advantage over other manufacturers even when NOT working for the government. ; The Biden bill provides a $7500 rebate to purchasers of an all-electric vehicle. ; BUT the car buyer gets an additional $4500 if they purchase a car from a unionized car manufacturer.</p>



<p>The idea of meddling in the car market by offering a massive cost benefit for electric vehicles is bad enough – but to add another large chunk of change to push consumers to unionized manufacturers as a competitive advantage has a tinge of fascism – in which government and business merge into an unholy alliance.</p>



<p>Biden’s political commitment to “good union jobs” is a slap in the face of the many more workers who labor in non-union enterprises. ; Perhaps it is time for the vast majority of workers – the non-union variety – to revolt and put candidates who only seek to create “good union jobs” out of office and force Uncle Sam to play fair. ; It would benefit both the taxpayers and the consumers.</p>



<p><strong>Public Sector Unions</strong></p>



<p>Then there are those public sector unions. ; Many view them as just another unionized working class. ; That is a big mistake. ; Public sector unions have no more in common with private sector unions than private enterprises have commonality with government operations.</p>



<p>Government unions were not always a part of the American fabric. ; They are a Johnny-come-lately to the union movement.  ; In fact, there was a lot of good arguments made over the years as to why government should not be unionized. ;</p>



<p>As a disclaimer, I agree with those voices in the past who believed government workers should not be unionized. ; There was no greater opponent of government unions than President Franklin Roosevelt – a strong advocate of private sector unions. ; He said, unions having the ability to strike against the government was “unthinkable and intolerable.” ; Union powerhouse, George Meany, head of the AFL-CIO said, “It is impossible to bargain collectively with government.” ; They were both correct.</p>



<p>A much higher percentage of bureaucrats are members of unions than their private sector counterparts – It is a 34.2 percent to that 6.3 percent in private sector unions. ; ;</p>



<p>There are several reasons why government bureaucrats ae more unionized – and why they should not be unionized.</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>The basic problem is that unionism is about bargaining for a share of the corporate profit. ; There is a fixed pool of money and therefore a limit on demands. ; There is no need to consider profits when bargaining for public sector wages and benefits. ; Since public sector concessions are drawn from the seemingly unlimited resources of the taxpayers’ money, there is no limit on what can be paid in wages and benefits. ; That is why bureaucrats have moved from the lowest paid workers to the highest paid with the greatest (most expensive) benefits.</li></ol>



<ol class="wp-block-list" start="2"><li>There is no distinction between management and labor. ; In my experience with school unions, members of the board (management?) were also members of the union – eager to concede to any union demands no matter how outrageous or economically impractical.</li></ol>



<ol class="wp-block-list" start="3"><li>Public sector unions rely on the member of Congress to fund their demands in the form of appropriations.  ; Since they are political figures rather than management figures, they have no vested interest in the outcome of labor negotiations – no concerns over the costs. ; It is not their money. ; In fact, it is to the politicians benefit to give union bureaucrats whatever they demand.</li></ol>



<ol class="wp-block-list" start="4"><li>We also do not allow essential services to strike – including the military, police and fire. ; Unions often ignore the law and call for Illegal walkouts. ; That is what happened recently in Chicago when the school unions called for an illegal walk-out over Covid issues. ; When I consulted for the Detroit Board of Education, Michigan law prevented teachers’ unions from striking. ; They did so anyway – without any repercussions from prosecutors and courts. ; In other words, public sector unions are able to ignore the law.</li></ol>



<ol class="wp-block-list" start="5"><li>Because public sector unions represent government bureaucrats, they are very political. ; The union leaders use their influence to engage in political activities far beyond their responsibilities to members and job-related issues. ; You will see the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) participating at a wide range of Democrat and leftwing demonstrations and protests – from abortion to voting issues. ; They are essentially a lobbying organization for big government/big spending Democrats – those who give the unions all those unearned benefits.</li></ol>



<p><strong>Summary</strong></p>



<p>Unions are often believed to be important to protect workers rights, safety and compensation. ; Maybe so in the past, but they have evolved into a negative force in the marketplace. A good example is the auto industry, where aggressive union tactics – and pressure on management from Democrat politicians &#8212; made auto workers among the highest paid in the world. ; Good news … eh?</p>



<p>It also made American cars the most expensive in the world – and led the growth in the sale of foreign cars. ; To keep competitive, American automakers turned to robotics – significantly reducing the number of employees. ; The auto union’s “success” has all but destroyed the American auto industry. ; Remember how Chrysler and GM had to be bailed out by Uncle Sam. ; That was thanks to the auto unions. Not so good even for workers … eh? ; ;</p>



<p>Because workers are generally served well by employers these days, unions are limited to creating a self-serving political power base from the money they extract from workers. ; In many cases, workers are forced to pay union dues even if they would prefer to not be a union member. ; They resent their dues being used to finance political campaigns and causes with which they do not agree.</p>



<p>Unions are punching far beyond their weight. ; They represent a minuscule number of American workers. ; That is why every time Biden promises to create “jobs, good union jobs,” I cringe.</p>



<p>So. There ‘tis.</p>

Time for Uncle Sam to stop subsidizing unions
