Vidav wrote:OL FU wrote:I admit that I have mixed emotions about the issue, but exactly who are public sector unions bargaining against (or with depending on the definition you want to use). It's easy with private sector unions, they are bargaining for a larger share of the profits of the equity holders. But public sector unions bargain with politicians that have received their political contributions and the attempt is to get a larger share of tax dollars. If a business gives up too much of its profits, it may go out of business or file bankruptcy to renegotiate union contracts and the equity and debt holders lose also. If a government promises too much to unions, it raises taxes or passes laws to change the agreements potentially risking the political contributions that put them in office.
You know it is just not the same thing and it just isn't as simple as saying I believe in the right of collective bargaining which I do (at least for private sector unions).
Obviously things are different all over but in the government office I work in, which is union btw, if we get a raise through negotiations they don't raise taxes to make that money up. They just cut our budget so we have to layoff people.
I said promises too much to the unions the states couldn't afford. I didn't say gives raises. If you want to nit the language be my guest. You will find lots of nits in what I write on a message board.

However, the point was who you are negotiating against and as I said, I have mixed views on the subject. I understand the need for collective bargaining, however, the negotiator for the tax payer can be confused about the purpose of the negotiations.
I don't think the states got in this mess because they were overwhelmed with union contributions and gave away the ship. I think years ago the states were in a situation where they couldn't pay competitive wages so they beefed up the benefits ( paticularly retirement which didn't hit the states budget at the time of negotiation). It is one of the many problems with government accounting on the cash basis. It sounded like a fair deal, at the time. One of the problems was as the market for these items changed, the government benefits didn't (union contracts and politics in general being the problem).