Worker Rights or Taxpayer Rights?

Unions vs. Balancing the Budget

The world is undergoing tremendous upheavals and it appears that the American Labor Movement of the 20th century may be on its’ way to BEING history.

The labor movement in this country is at a tipping point, and public sector unions in this state should start getting real about concessions or risk becoming marginalized.

Are unions becoming so demonized that they are on the verge of disappearing altogether?

The American public is not nearly as gullible as they were in recent years. The problem isn’t unions, but PUBLIC unions, which are negotiating with PUBLIC funds.

The problem isn’t worker rights, which Americans still very much believe in, but rather TAXPAYER Rights, and the need for all workers to be productive and worthy of their pay and benefits.

The problem isn’t public sector workers, which Americans still value and want first-rate service from, but rather public sector UNIONS, which have to be reconsidered 80 years after Democratic Party icon Franklin Delano Roosevelt opposed the concept of collective bargaining for public employees. Was FDR right?

So if the ongoing battle we’re seeing in Wisconsin is going to be portrayed as a struggle for all workers’ rights, the opposite portrayal in this current tough economy will include the following questions:

1) How do all the fake sick notices and ability to organize throughout the entire state and country make those fighting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the elected Republican legislative majorities the underdog? In other words, who’s oppressing whom?

2) Why did it take this current series of events to drag the public unions in Wisconsin to the table to accept concessions after years of pleading? In other words, are public sector unions hearing the voice of the people, or are they the ones who are tone-deaf?

3) Do those protesting Governor Walker really represent the will of the American majority, or just the Nancy Pelosi minority that got bounced out after last November’s elections?

4) Will Walker become a hero or a goat if he stands his ground (perhaps a peek at how New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is doing will answer that question)?

Arguably, the biggest tragedy in all this is that we NEED public sector workers, and that some of those workers are actually in need of a raise. However, merit and productivity do NOT appear to come across as the main driving forces behind what leads to increased pay, benefits and pensions for public sector unions in a nation and world that is really coming to grips with its own limited economy and resources.

There are bigger political implications than the labor standoff going on in Wisconsin:

Governor Jerry Brown will have not only a hard time getting a tax hike extension on the ballot, but will likely fail to pass any said ballot measure without fixing the structural deficit that can only come about with pension/pay reform of public sector employees. With the current public focus on Wisconsin, it’ll be a simple “no public sector reforms, no tax hikes here in California”. Last November’s fiscally-conservative outcome of the ballot measures is proof of that.

Finally, Gallup reports that fewer voters are identifying themselves as Democratic just as fewer voters are identifying themselves as Republican.

Stated differently, both parties are going to have to prove themselves to their voters. The Republican establishment is terrified of the tea party crowd (which I consider myself a part of); will there be a similar tea-party-like phenomenon among fair-minded but neglected liberal taxpayers who’ve had enough of being taken for granted as loyal Democrats?

Please, just promise me that you’ll think about it.