Public Union Logic

I spent a great deal of time a few nights ago tweeting with a gentleman who had brought himself to my attention by jumping on one of the folks I follow, demanding the logic behind public sector unions. My followee had responded with something to the effect of (paraphrased....loosely) " For the obvious reason. To reward those who want to give public service." I completely agreed with that sentiment. The gentleman however did not find that adequate and reiterated a desire for the "logic". The argument basically distilled, on my part (he wandered a bit to other subjects) to the concept of why Public employees not only deserve, but NEED to retain collective bargaining power.

 After spending some increasingly frustrating time attempting to convey the argument in 140 character bits and pieces, I gave up and introduced myself to Twit Longer, a service ( to be used judiciously) which allows one to create a MUCH longer post that then links to Twitter. After producing the "tweet", I decided it pretty well encapsulated the argument and that it would, in fact make decent blog post. There are some modifications I have made to further flesh out my points because, well...its my blog, I have space if I wanna. What follows is the modified text of the umm....longer twit?....

 "OK here it is. Public employees (except, arguably the elected ones) don't go into it to get rich. The legendary job security of the public sector is a myth, especially in this age of tax cuts (governments run mainly on taxes) and skyrocketing materials costs associated with explosive growth in places like China and India. Layoffs are as rampant as they are in the private sector.

Many of the jobs associated with public employment have more hazard and stress involved (we agree there). Some have VERY large potential consequences for failure, and I'm not talking just about police and fire. People die if the infrastructure is not working right as well. Most of the jobs of this nature, are also jobs that fall under collective bargaining groups, otherwise known as unions.

So, you have high stress/dangerous/"better NOT screw it up or people die" jobs. Those jobs, on average pay less than equivalents in the private sector, especially at state and local levels.  Many state and local governments regularly lose really good people to private sector jobs. If as a society we want (and we do) really qualified good people to keep us safe, save our stuff and make sure our infrastructure works and does not kill us, there MUST be a way to attract and retain excellent people to do that. We have already established that money is NOT that method. Nor is job security. So you are asking people with high stress jobs, to do those jobs with no say over any aspect of their working conditions? Really? 

Don't forget that we all owe the existence of things like safe working conditions, limited work weeks, pay for overtime and holidays, paid vacation (or even just the ability to take vacation and still have your job when you get back), to the unions. Many things we take for granted these days as normal, reasonable and expected in our employment environments came out of the union movement. Additionally, the types of public jobs we are discussing often involve very long hours, often in nasty conditions, with no regard for holidays, standard schedule, etc. All necessary to keep things running, all day every day, for the rest of us. To not allow those unions in the public sector basic rights that everyone else has, to bargain for their working conditions, is attempting to create a public sector slave class. Again, not the best way to attract the best people for important jobs.  

Taking away from public employees a last right that private employees still have, is only adding to the disincentive for the really good, really qualified people to opt for the lower pay and greater stress jobs. That equals less safety, security and general well being for all of us.

That is my take on the subject, make of it what you will. :-)"

I further elaborated that the main reason to preserve public sector bargaining power was to spare ourselves from the effects of having the important "Do NOT screw it up or people will die" jobs done by the people who would be willing to work constant 80 hour weeks in unsafe conditions for $5 an hour. Upshot. Cushy government employment conditions.....MYTH. Awesome cushy paychecks for cushy jobs.....MYTH. Legendary job security for cushy jobs and cushy pay.....MYTH. So what, exactly do we have to offer to entice people to do these important jobs (besides the increasingly rare basic desire to serve their fellow citizens, which should be rewarded in itself )? Really only the fact that they still have the ability to join together in a collective unit to bargain for how and under what conditions their difficult, critical, and often dangerous jobs are to be done.