Public Unionization

Okay let's be honest. Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin signed into law rules that are not just there to balance the budget. They are there to break up the public unions. To say otherwise is to pretend that reality does not exists. It is not just the removing of the right to collectively bargain. It is also the removal of the requirement of employees to deduct union dues and the requirement for the unions to be recertified by vote every year. Maybe those are good measures for Wisconsin to have but those measures are not about saving the state money, but they are about breaking the power of unions.
If we are honest about the attempt to break up the unions then the next question is whether that is a good thing. Most Americans, this one included, believes that people should retain collective bargaining rights. On the other hand, collective bargaining means something different when we are looking at a public union as opposed to a union for a private company. When a union bargains with a private company you have a true adversarial relationship. If the company agrees to concessions with the union then that company has to pay the union out of its own pocket. But a public union is bargaining with someone who is not going to have to ante up for any concessions. In fact, because unions are so politically active, there is a real possibility that their "adversary" has more interest in keeping the union members happy than in saving money.
Some conservatives have argued that because government officials are less likely to bargain in a way to protect the interest of the taxpayers the way a company will protect the interest of the share holders that we should outlaw public unions. I acknowledge that, just as we had to be honest about Governor's Walkers intention to break the union, we have to be honest that this is a legitimate concern. But do we have to throw the baby out with the bathwater? Can we not keep the public unions and neutralize this concern?
I think we can. My compromise is that we allow public unions to bargain for whatever they can get. However, they are not allowed to become involved in politics. They can not endorses or donate to campaigns, set up get out the vote drives, or help to do political organizing. This way they do not directly help to determine who they will bargain with. This will put public union more on the same footing as private unions.
Will we ever reach such a compromise. Not if we are just calling each other names. Not if we take advantage of a temporary political advantage, like what the Republicans are doing right now, to put for all that we want. Not if we run away from our obligations to debate and vote, like what the Democrats did, if we do not get our way. In short, we will not find solutions that solve the problems that Republicans and Democrats both point out as long as we do politics like we have always done. But what else is new?

Sincerely,

Trouble-Maker