Gov. Scott Walker on Monday afternoon responded to comments President Barack Obama made earlier in the day about the protests in Madison:If it was a fight it would have been called in the first round. Obama has empty platitudes while Walker has facts.
I’m sure the President knows that most federal employees do not have collective bargaining for wages and benefits while our plan allows it for base pay. And I’m sure the President knows that the average federal worker pays twice as much for health insurance as what we are asking for in Wisconsin. At least I would hope he knows these facts.
Furthermore, I’m sure the President knows that we have repeatedly praised the more than 300,000 government workers who come to work every day in Wisconsin.
I’m sure that President Obama simply misunderstands the issues in Wisconsin, and isn’t acting like the union bosses in saying one thing and doing another.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Gov. Scott Walker Schools Obama on Collective Bargaining
*SMACK!* *POW!* *OOF!*:
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The heated controversy over public employee collective bargaining is an indicator that something is amiss. What should be clear is that the fault does not lie with the unions, nor even with the right of such employees to collective bargaining, a right that exists throughout the private sector. But there is something wrong with the system. Let us look for a moment to see how the private sector works.
Samual Gompers, who founded the AFofL, was asked what he wanted for his members. His answer: ”More.” Let us take him as a qualified voice for those in both public and private workforces. Let us also allow that there may be a limit to how much “More”. The UAW wants More from Ford Motor, and they enter into collective bargaining. Ford management considers many factors, but chief among them must be, “how much more can we afford?” Should the UAW get too much, something’s gotta give. Return to stockholders, in the form of dividends or appreciation in stock values, is one place. Another, is in holding down labor costs through strategies such as automation. But at some point price increases are the last resort to cover increased hourly costs. What then? Maybe we all go buy Hondas.
But “we” can’t go elsewhere for firemen, policemen, teachers or all the others in the public sector, except to move to a lower tax state. Of course, many do just that. Then “we” have many roles: taxpayer, voter, public service customer. In the election of our government officials we delegate the types of decisions faced by corporate management. Perhaps there’s the rub.
Our government officials are either politicians, or controlled by politicians. They have power, and one of our oldest adages is that power corrupts. It’s to be expected. That corruption affects the collective bargaining in the public sector. How can we fix it?
Absent going elsewhere, we must find a way to make the officials more responsive to our wishes. They must negotiate labor costs more in line with what we feel is a fair price for services received, or we must move on to Hondaland. How can that be addressed?
My suggestion is to make labor contracts in the public sector expire at, or shortly after, elections. Then place on the ballot union demands and public officials’ best offers. We vote on which to adopt, and it becomes the basis for the contract. It’s returning the decision on these contracts to a referendum. Of course, we may not feel the official offer is acceptable. What the? Well, elsewhere on the ballot are the elected officials names. If we are dissatisfied, we have plenty of opportunity to change those too.
This might even improve the performance of the public sector workforce, along with improving the methods of delivering that performance.
Why not give it a try?
Walker is not telling the complete truth in saying the federal workers do not have collective bargaining. . . they don't need it as they receive cost of living increases annually (COLA), so their salaries keep up with inflation. They also receive up to 6h% matches to the amount they put in their deferred compensation, something state workers do not receive. Workers in the states would love to have COLA increases and up to 6% free in matching compensation to their pension. States do not offer it because it is easier to collectively bargain, extract lower salaries that do not keep up with inflation, and make workers pay for their own deferred comp (with no match), all the while raiding and loaning against the workers' pensions too, without paying those back. If Wall Streeters and the financial industry had their contracts "honored" during the financial meltdown they created, and received their bonuses and parachutes, why shouldn't states be kept to their contracts with their workers?
PS: The COLA increases were what was frozen by Obama after the financial meltdown created by republcans, and is a step the republicans never took while they were in power getting those COLA increases, deferred comp matches etc.
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