UPDATE: 12-22-08 WITH THE BEST OF INTENTIONS ...
Here is a comment from one of my readers which points out the progression of most unions.
"In 1977, myself and fellow employees started a union as a bargaining tool against a municipality run by Democrats. The 80 employees were mostly very conservative, but were taking it in the shorts as far as wages and benefits. We started the union on the premise of increasing wages, eliminating nonsensical work rules, promoting individuality and ingenuity over the good old boy system. Well, 30 years later, things have changed and it is now run by liberal’s who have destroyed what we started. If that’s what evolution is all about, I want no part of it. Things do change, not always for the best."
Like most unions which were started by decent, honest individuals seeking safety improvements or escaping onerous working conditions, many unions have morphed into little more than political machines lead by a fat-cat leadership which wants to emulate the lifestyle and earnings of corporate titans. Often selling out their members to support their own interests.
Original blog entry ...
It is no secret that I am not a fan of the unions – especially public service employee unions who have the de facto power to cripple this nation’s public services if the government does not give in to their sometimes extortionate demands.
I have never seen a union voluntarily vote to reduce the size of government, eliminate nonsensical work rules, promote individuality and ingenuity over seniority and temper their demands to coincide with the economic time.
In fact, I believe most unions are headed by an often corrupt leadership which feels entitled to all of the perks and privileges granted to those who actually produce goods and services. And my greatest fear is that we are moving toward a European union model – a coalition of socialists and communists who demand more and more government entitlements and can shut down major cities at will with their work stoppages and outright strikes.
I also believe that there is an unholy alliance between the democrats, especially corrupt democrats, and the unions which does not bode well for a nation that needs to recover its financial footing and to repair or replace a significant amount of its decaying and crumbling infrastructure without undue fraud, waste, mismanagement and corruption.
Has anybody noticed that we are in the middle of an economic crisis involving housing?
In a time when people are struggling to stay afloat in a troubling economy and, for some, save their homes from foreclosure, I find that it is unseemly for the democrats to excoriate companies for their profligate partying – and then watch while a government agency accepts favors from a union.
According to the Washington Post …
“Cool Is the Rule When HUD Is in the House”
“If Barack Obama really wants to "make government cool again," as he said during the campaign, he might want to check out the Department of Housing and Urban Development.”
“About 600 HUD employees had a pretty cool time yesterday during a holiday party at the nearby L'Enfant Plaza Hotel. It was sponsored by Local 476 of the American Federation of Government Employees.”
“But it wasn't just the smooth sounds of a tight band that made it cool. Or the good time partygoers had dancing the Electric Slide. Or the tables with cheesecake, carrot cake and that deliciously moist chocolate cake that folks who clearly don't need another empty calorie crowded around.”
“What makes it cool is the attitude that flows from the top down and the bottom up.”
“It starts with Secretary Steve Preston. He's known for his town hall meetings -- they're really more like pep rallies -- that he holds by video hookup with employees around the country. He wasn't there yesterday, but Roy Bernardi, the department's deputy secretary, appeared and thanked the union members for their good work.”
" ‘The employees here have been called on to do more, and they have done more without complaint,’ he said after his speech. He also spoke about things the HUD bosses do to improve conditions for workers, including a 6 a.m. shift for those who want to start early and leave early, an enhanced plan to help them pay back student loans and training programs.”
“He recited a list of other accomplishments. Among them: Last year, for the first time in 13 years, not one departmental program was on the Government Accountability Office's high-risk list. That list covers programs that are vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement. He thanked employees for other programs that saved taxpayers money, and he sounded more sincere than bosses sometimes do when patting themselves on the back by praising their staff.”
Coincidently, HUD Secretary Preston was nominated to fill the shoes of the disgraced Bush crony Alphonso Jackson who is under federal investigation for alleged cronyism, introducing party politics into contracting decisions and various other alleged misdeeds.
“One difference between HUD and agencies with mission drift is that rank and file and management seem to share a vision -- a vision of making decent housing more available and our urban areas more livable.”
" ‘We think we'll be the ones leading the recovery,’ is the way Patrick W. Simien, a HUD lawyer, expressed the positive, forward-looking attitude shared by his colleagues. ‘People are looking forward to the challenge and having a positive impact on the economy.’"
What would a government-related party be without a lawyer present?
A love fest in preparation for the new Administration …
“While it's common for the brass at agencies to talk about how great things are, in HUD's case, the union organizers have some pretty good things to say, too. ‘We have decent, moderate Republican leadership,’ said Eddie Eitches, Local 476's president. The Local has deep penetration, with about 1,100 members in a bargaining unit of 1,800 employees, according to Eitches. His comments are high praise coming from a union leader whose members adore Obama. If Shaun Donovan, New York City's housing chief and Obama's pick to head HUD, is confirmed, he'll find an agency whose employees have pretty good morale.”
“Their love for the president-elect was shown by the long line of members waiting to have their picture taken against a blank green screen. Through a bit of camera magic, wizards from Event Digital Photography manipulated the photo into a picture of the member standing next to Obama with a Christmas Tree and fireplace in the background.”
What’s not to like? President-elect Barack Obama was closely associated with a democrat community activist group that militantly fought for lower cost housing – illegal aliens included – using organizing techniques set forth by one of Hillary Clinton’s heroes, Saul Alinsky. Considering the love affair between the democrats and the unions, the union’s penetration into the bargaining unit will be significantly greater and we can anticipate federal funds flowing to community activists and their groups in the near future. Unfortunately, these community funds are often accompanied by waste, fraud and corruption which features a stunning lack of government accountability and oversight.
Pandering politicians …
“But it also was a bipartisan affair.”
“Rep. Frank R. Wolf, a Northern Virginia Republican who starts his 15th term next month, was there to greet the workers. So was Rep. Donna F. Edwards, the Maryland Democrat who was first sworn in six months ago tomorrow. Eitches likes to point out that her victory came after she spent much more time and talked much more substance at last year's party than then-incumbent Al Wynn did.”
“Wolf has been a supporter of such issues as allowing workers in the Federal Employee Retirement System to receive credit for accrued sick leave upon retirement and expanding telework opportunities.”
“Edwards was there to show her appreciation to the union and her dancing skill. ‘If your voting depended on my dancing,’ she modestly told the crowd, ‘I think I'd still be at my old job.’"
“She reminded the union members that she is the child of two government workers. Perhaps that's one reason she's so serious about looking at the jobs agencies farm out to contractors. Too much of that can be ‘debilitating and demoralizing to the federal workforce,’ she said after her brief talk to the crowd.”
Can you say “larger government” and “more union members?”
" ‘We need an aggressive federal workforce,’ she added, to oversee expenditures related to America's two wars and the various financial rescue packages.”
Is this what she really means: it’s our turn to handle the money and make sure it is spent on our causes.
“After the speeches, some workers returned to the office, and the band, East Origin, played an nice rendition of ‘That's the Way Love Goes.’"
Local 476 knows how to throw a holiday party. ‘It's like a family," Simien said of HUD. " ‘Everybody knows everybody after you've been here a few years.’ "
What ever happened to our civil service system which was designed to assure fairness and performance in government positions? Why are we allowing the unions, with their abominable record to sink their hooks farther into a government which is already bloated, inefficient and filled with waste, fraud and corruption. Year-after-year, the GAO (Government Accountability Office) claims that many government Agencies and programs are simply unauditable for various and sundry reasons. Some cite old-fashioned accounting systems, others cite manual spreadsheet procedures prone to error. With all of the money that our government spends, one would assume that they would be more accountable to the taxpayer than to the self-serving special interests which dominate Washington politics.
Fighting for power …
Our national defense demands that we close our borders and control the hoards of illegal aliens who are invading our shores. However, the most unions are dead set against anything which prevents these illegal aliens from becoming dues-paying union members and often looks the other way where illegal aliens are involved. So why would we continue to unionize the very people who should be on the lookout for illegal aliens?
Fighting for control of the TSA employees …
Again, according to the Washington Post …
“Which Union Would Represent TSA?”
“There's a battle brewing over which Federal workers' union will get to represent the approximately 43,000 Transportation Security Administration workers that protect American airports.”
“Federal workers unions hope the Obama administration grants Transportation Security Administration employees collective bargaining rights and expanded worker protections in the early months of the new presidency. If that happens there is promise of a tough fight among those unions to represent the people who protect American airports.”
This should not happen. How can you trust any union whose publicly stated policies promote open borders and greater financial and housing benefits for illegal aliens?
“It's expected that the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) will face off against the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), two groups that have already set up shop in several airports in anticipation of presidential and congressional action that would grant collective bargaining rights to transportation security officers (TSOs), reversing course on a Bush Administration position that was a major sticking point when the Department of Homeland Security was established in 2002.”
These are some of the rudest, stupidest people in government service. Drunk with the power of petty bureaucrats who now get to push around citizen/taxpayers. These are the people who often steal from traveler’s luggage and whose punishment (or lack thereof) remains hidden from the public as a “personnel issue.” I am totally against any union intervention in an already stupid process.
Stupid is as stupid does …
What good is a list of names of suspected terrorists without biometric identification – especially if thousands of travelers share the same name? And how are we supposed to get a terrorist to submit biometric identification information? Not to mention that foreign names cannot be easily transliterated into English in a meaningful sense? Or that one can simply pick a name from the mother’s side of the family, the father’s side of the family, or combine both to make up a unique name. And it is often this list which empowers those who think granny is a terrorist while studiously avoiding profiling Muslim men between the ages to 18 and 34.
See the Sixty Minute Story on the TSA ...
This video will give you an interesting perspective on the TSA process. After unionization, imagine the rise in employee stress claims and early retirements that further milk the system. Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist whose word can be taken as gospel. Note that no one mentioned the thefts of passenger's personal property and those TSA people who were caught napping on the job.
Preparing the battlefield …
“Even though TSOs do not have collective bargaining rights, both AFGE and NTEU have signed up dues-paying employees at the local level and have chartered chapters (for NTEU) or locals (for AFGE), who then appoint and train officers to staff their local efforts and represent individual employees during work-related disputes with TSA.”
“The dispute between the two unions dates back to early 2007, when NTEU won the right to represent roughly 30,000 Customs and Border Protection employees. It was one of the largest union elections in Federal government history. Following the election, AFGE filed a complaint with the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which eventually ruled that NTEU had the right to organize CBP workers.”
Which union represents the citizens against egregious violations of their civil rights and dignity? Who stands up for them against the petty tyrants which abound.
The real stakes: power and money …
“This time around, the pool of workers is bigger and the stakes higher, with TSA's 43,000 employees adding significant numbers and political clout to whichever union wins out.”
Here come the union thugs …
It is no secret that the unions want the Obama Administration to forego secret union ballots in favor of an open card check-off system. Imagine as the union organizer, backed by two linebacker-sized thugs, says “would you please consider allowing our union to represent you.” This egregious violation of the historical concept of the “secret” election ballot is sure to be a hot topic in the opening days of the Obama Administration.
They’re not all bad apples …
There are many fine, honest and upright government employees and union members. Unfortunately, they are often not well-represented by their malignant power-hungry leadership. Perhaps, if Obama does make concessions in granting unions more power, he will also make it easier for the ordinary taxpayer to seek justice in fighting against unionized aggression at little or no cost to those with valid complaints.
Change?
Perhaps Obama will see the light and not let the corrosive effects of unions interfere with his legacy and signature legislation. Perhaps by taking on the powerful education unions, we can achieve our educational goals without a gold-plated bureaucracy? Perhaps we can even save the automakers, the airlines and numerous public services from the ravages of creeping unionism. If the unions want to exert more control, let them put up their money and buy into the enterprise.
What can YOU do?
Perhaps it is time to vote against machine politicians who pander to the unions – only to cede decision-making power to those who want more and more for less and less work. By rewarding seniority over achievement, we are dooming ourselves to becoming Europe II. Definitely not the United States of America that were so love.
Demand that the government institute accessible grievance procedures which result in the firing of overbearing and obnoxious workers. They work for us … not the other way around.
If you are a union member, vote for honest leaders who have the rank and file’s best interests in mind – and that of the employer.
-- steve
A union is a mob with a purpose; at first self-protection, now self-proliferation. -- steve
A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…
The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
Reference Links:
Joe Davidson - Cool Is the Rule When HUD Is in the House
Which Union Would Represent TSA? - Federal Eye -#more#more#more