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 For years, cities, counties and states spent millions of
dollars paying full time salaries and benefits for employees that were obligated
to belong to labor unions. Collective bargaining agreements with labor unions
around America were financed by high paid union lobbyists and bosses. Their
mission was to obtain capriciously high salaries and benefits for civil servants
compared to private industry.
Since the early 1900s, public sector union bosses have unified
with Democratic federal, state and local politicians to enact policies that
forced civil service workers to pay ransom in order to keep their jobs. To
appease members for receiving more for doing less, union bosses used their dues
money to finance the election of Democrats who'd reward them with gratuitous
benefit packages.
Almost three years to the day, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mark
Janus in the landmark Janus v. AFSCME case. They held it was unconstitutional to
force public sector workers to pay money to a union to maintain employment. The
case was filed by Mark Janus, who balked at paying dues for collective
bargaining and other work that the union did on behalf of their employees in the
workplace.
While organized labor was dealt a major blow by the Supreme Court in Janus, the
ruling did not impact obligations in the private sector. The court held that the
private-sector model cannot be applied to "public sector unions," since
collective bargaining in the public service is approved by government officials.
"There is no need in the public sector to have collective bargaining because the
government is the people and people cannot bargain with themselves." – Franklin
Roosevelt
The Janus decision was a win for taxpayers also since they pay the salaries and
benefits of public service employees. Many Americans thought it was unfair for
pubic service union members to pay into a system that was financed by them.
These unions didn’t only concern themselves with labor issues, they engaged in
political activity. Janus gave employees freedom of political choice also.
Public unions in all union states were affected by Janus. It was predicted Janus
would destroy the public-sector unions since they would lose income. This would
also limit their political power. Why would workers who could receive the same
benefits as members without paying dues join a union?
But America underestimated the political power of public service unions. They
had an arsenal of state and federal politicians in their hip pocket by the time
SCOTUS ruled on Janus.
"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be
bought are legislators." – P J O'Rourke
Many liberal states with strong unions had already taken legal steps to buffer
public-sector unions against the impact of a positive Janus ruling. Unions were
aware they would lose dues money and members, and were working with liberal
politicians to cut their losses. Therefore, the Janus decision did not
negatively affect the unions or their Democratic Party allies like labor experts
had predicted.
Within weeks of the Janus ruling, blue states passed legislation to protect
unions from the impact of Janus. Liberal states like New York, where 70% of
public employees are unionized, were first toreact. Fallen Gov. Andrew Cuomo
issued an executive order shielding work records of public union employees to
prevent them from being informed of their newly acquired rights. Cuomo said,
"This order is to protect workers from harassment and intimidation by the union
haters." His order also required new hires to meet with union reps so they could
be intimidated into joining the union. Blue state Democrats went
on a rampage to protect their political revenue. California, Maryland, and
Washington gave unions access to employee records. California also made new
hires meet with unions.
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Mark Janus, the plaintiff in Janus vs. AFSCME, speaks to supporters
outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 26, 2018.
Dan McCaleb / The Center Square
"The only effective answer to organized greed is
organized labor." –Thomas Donahue
California, Washington and New Jersey prohibited employers from
discouraging membership. In New Jersey, public employers who
violated this provision would have to reimburse unions for lost
dues. These laws were designed to prevent workers from learning
about their rights after Janus. Although public
service unions found ways to work around Janus, there were some
unanticipated benefits of Janus. The difference between public and
private unions is critical. Private unions are governed in the text
of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and by federal court
decisions. But no matter how much these unions pay liberal
politicians, taxpayers only indirectly foot the bill.
Since the Janus case was tried in the court of public opinion, it
shed light on the obtrusive power of the unions. And this did not
sit well with many Americans who blamed unions for higher prices on
tangible goods and services. They took their anger to state
legislatures who began passing right to work laws.
"The right to work simply means 'the right to work' and nothing
more." – Scott Walker
The U.S. union labor movement has been in crisis for years and has
continued to hitch its hopes for survival on state and federal
Democrats. But no matter what liberal lawmakers do for the unions
their slide will be impossible to reverse since union interests are
at odds with those of members. Unions are out of
touch with today's every-man-for-himself attitude. The Hoffa days of
brotherhood are gone forever. Former AFL-CIO president Richard
Trumka tried to strictly enforce the Fair Labor Standards and
National Labor Relations Acts to force more people into unions, but
that backfired. Workers value individual pay over collectivism. They
want the best deal for them, not for a union.
John Wooden told us, “It's OK to be a team player. But personal
effort makes you a winner.” Only 10.3% of the U.S. workforce is
unionized today. Labor Department data reveal that is half of what
it was in 1983 and a third of what it was in 1950. With many states
passing right to work laws and employers and employees benefiting
from them, the labor union model of "one size fits all" in the
workplace is obsolete. Workers care less about brotherhood and more
about their own paycheck.
The irony of Janus is it had little affect on public unions since
blue states were able to neutralize it. Although Janus did not apply
to private unions, it publicized the political power of unions and
voters reacted. Today, the entire south is right to work and a total
of 30 states now have right to work laws.
Georgetown's Joseph McCartin wrote that when unions became dependent
solely on Democrats to prioritize their needs, this made it
difficult to sell their policies to the public. This ruined their
image with the average American voter. Labor and politics don't mix
and this will be the union's Waterloo.
"We have to get militant with employers to get what we want for our
union brothers. There's no shortcuts to get our demands in the
workplace. And that's how we will get it done!" – James P. Hoffa
shortcuts to get are demands in the workplace. And that's how it
will get it done!" --James P. Hoffa |
