The Showdown Over Union Benefits

I'm neither Republican nor Democrat. To me this choice is similar to that between Coke and Pepsi; neither one being very good for you. In fact, I believe we should all be drinking a lot more mead. But issues of thirst aside, there is something missing in the current debate about teachers' and state workers' pay and benefit packages. I don't believe this is a "Red vs. Blue" issue at all. I believe it is a "Them vs. The Rest of Us Who Have to Fund This Turkey" issue. As a matter of fact, that's exactly how their unions have played it all along. As I watched the pro-teacher / pro-union protesters in Madison, Wisconsin, I noticed something mighty odd. Many were holding up signs reading, "Support Worker Rights!" Did I read that correctly? Worker rights? But that's not what this is truly about. This is about certain workers' rights, i.e. teachers and state workers only. Just them. Nobody else. No other workers' pay, or benefits, or retirement packages are being fought for here. This is a big problem for their argument. Those teacher and state worker unions have lobbied, with all their political might, and considerable threats, for themselves exclusively. Had they supported worker rights a bit more generally over the years, they may find themselves with more general support today. But perhaps they knew the pie wasn't big enough for that. There is a limit, after all.

When the economic tide was rising and lifting everyone's boat (or so we felt), few cared much that teachers' pension promises were becoming irrational, allowing them to retire with near-full pay after working just 20 years. If we were becoming a little bit French as a nation, c'est la vie! Perhaps we would choose to retire early, too! When home values were skyrocketing and we were all feeling wealthier, nobody complained that state and federal workers' salaries had outpaced those in the private sector by up to 40%, in addition to their famous job security, and ultra-generous, fully-vested retirement packages. Maybe we were too busy to notice. Maybe we thought the private sector would eventually catch up, or that our (future) million-dollar homes would see us through. Maybe we just thought we'd deal with this problem another day. But now that the water is low, and we in the private sector are struggling to keep our little row-boats afloat, it's painfully obvious how deep and blue the tide-pools remain for the unionized public employees. Unfortunately for them, it is we, the private workers, who are the ones paddling feverishly to keep all that turquoise water below their yachts. We resent that because their unions haven't given much of a hoot about the rest of us all these years. Their unions have collectively bargained fantastic deals for themselves at our expense. Why should we be expected to sympathize now? (Incidentally, when state workers' union representatives sit down to negotiate, who is sitting across the table from them? Could this perhaps be part of the problem?) Don't get me wrong, I believe very strongly in workers' rights, including those of teachers and state employees. Just not only them. I believe every US worker who does a necessary job effectively should have some living-wage assurances and a reasonable retirement package. Maybe we should all be unionized, every one of us together! Then we'd have some real bargaining power. Heck, we might just be able to negotiate a daily flagon of mead. I'd drink to that.