That vote is not today in the Wisconsin Assembly on the bill passed last night in the Senate restricting public employee union collective bargaining.
That vote will not be in April, when there are local elections in Wisconsin.
That vote will not be sometime in the next few months as a result of various recall petitions.
The vote which will shake our political landscape will not be on a single day, and will not be televised.
The vote will not even be on a ballot.
The vote will be taken with the feet of tens of thousands of Wisconsin public employee union members, who will have the choice for the first time in memory of deciding whether to join the union and pay the union dues, which have been estimated in the $700-1000 per year range.
The public employees will have to make a choice, take a pay increase or pay the union.
I think we know how that vote will turn out, and whether the employees -- once given a choice -- will buy what the unions are selling.
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What happens when union members have to submit their union dues to their locals on their own? They will keep that money and say the hell with the unions. Richard Trumka knows this. And when union dues are no longer flooding union coffers, jobs like Trumkas will be at rist. Also at risk is the millions of $$ that the unions, without permission of the membership, flood millions of $$ into the campaign coffers of the Democratic candidates.
ReplyDeleteHere will be the union management's choice: continue to flood Dem campaign coffers with millions of $$ and take a cut in pay themselves, or keep their tony salaries at the level they are currently. Which do you think the union bigwigs will choose?
And how much does the union members pay the top ten union thugs at the AFSCME Council 40 (Madison, WI) a year? $1.2 million.
The estimate for union dues sounds accurate, Bill. My wife paid $875 in union dues to her teacher's union here in NY State.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking for myself, I know how I would choose (If I could!) As a (non-willing)PAYING NON-member of a NY public union, I yearn for these reforms to come to NY state. I would welcome NY becoming a right to work state. Can anybody rationally defend why personal choice is WRONG when it comes to union membership? All I keep hearing from union apologists is that "it is in my best interest" and the "union protects me". Who will protect me from the union?
ReplyDeleteI have the option of not joining the union, and I don't belong, but the union is still allowed to confiscate $300 a year from my paycheck for "administrative costs". I raised a stink, and I was given malpractice insurance as part of that cost, something my insurance agent I could probably get for less, but at least I'm getting something for my money. So living in a right-to-work state does not mean that the union has to keep its fingers out of your pocket. If I had the option of writing the check myself, it would be "in the mail".
ReplyDeleteAMERICANS REJECTED THE CONCEPT OF ARISTOCRACY IN 1776; THEY NOW REJECT THE BUREAU-STOCRACY IN 2011!
ReplyDeleteOff topic, sorry, but James O'Keefe said about an hour ago (about 1:15 ET), on Facebook, "New explosive tape released in a matter of hours."
ReplyDeleteThis is one vote I'm not the least bit worried about.
ReplyDeleteI'd bet union dues falls off at least 50% immediately, and to 90% over time.
Remember, public unions get overly generous benefits, their pay isn't that far out of line with private sector workers. Unlike their leadership, the majority of them are neither idealogues nor swimming in union cash.
Union contributions to Democrats will fall at an even faster rate. The last thing union leaders will cut is their own pay. The first thing to go will be optional expenses like contributions to politics.
This is a huge step in turning Wisconsin into a prosperous state, free of socialist tyranny.
Eleanor, if you are still required to "donate" to a union, you don't have true RTW laws.
ReplyDeleteTexas is a true RTW state. You do not have to join a union, nor pay anything to the unions, in order to get a job. So is Mississippi.
Agree completely. And, here's the clearly predictable result of Obama's and the outside paid agitators' continued reckless meddling.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/10/police-remove-protesters-wisconsin-capitol/
This is not what democracy looks like.
This is so unfair. Public employees get to opt out of their union, but private sector unions have a closed shop. Private sector employees must join the union and pay dues. So unfair, Man!
ReplyDelete