Lots of momentous news has been around lately. I am curious what some of you think.
What about the mess in Wisconsin? I will not express my opinion until I hear some of yours. Please respond. When I was a kid in high school debate, we had a topic for the year of the merits of Right to Work laws. Wisconsin apparently does not have one. Does that make difference?
Just thought that some of you needed something a little heavier to think about.
Dad Clark
6 comments:
I started to write my thoughts on the matter and realized that I don't have what I consider a good foundation upon which I base my opinions. But, I'll share my opinions anyway. I think the era when unions were needed is past. I think the idea of public sector unions is just crazy. The fact that public sector unions can exert influence on politicians, who don't often seem to care about where the money they are spending comes from, is completely inappropriate. At least with private sector unions, management always has the profitability of the company in mind when they deal with the unions. If the union's demands become too great, the company will fail. In the public sector, if the union's demands become too great, the government just borrows more money, raises taxes, or does something else stupid that will lead to its own collapse. So many of the states are in the hole financially, and their hands are tied because of the concessions they've made to unions. The more conservative politicians know this needs to change and are trying to make it happen, but many of the liberal politicians are unwilling to unshackle the government by changing the laws regarding the unions because those same unions are among their highest campaign contributors. To put it in perspective, how would you feel if the CEO of the company you invest in was receiving money from the union. Would you trust him to make good decisions for the company? Those are my thoughts. Bravo to the Wisconsin state senators for out maneuvering the yellow-bellied run-aways.
I have mixed feelings simply because I don't know where teachers can make their voices heard. I basically agree with Mike, but because I'm one of the "underlings" in my job, sometimes I really struggle to have my voice heard. I'm on the front lines. I take the hits and the pressure that my boss does not take. He takes a different kind of pressure, but it is hard for our voices to be heard in our position. It would be nice to have someone speak up in our behalf. Does that make sense?
Teachers in Utah make about half of what the rest of the states pay their teachers. Shouldn't they have a voice and some power? It would be nice to have the politicians listen, but too many don't because they have their own little agendas. I don't know -- I'm mixed about this. I know policemen and firemen don't make very much money in comparison to big time businessmen. Is it wrong to have someone in your court fighting for you? Sure, they don't have to take the job but that's not the answer, either.
Since Wisconsin voted in this governor, I think there must be more conservatives out there than most understood. I'm all for sticking up for what you promised and for getting things fiscally sound. My co-worker is from Wisconsin and claims that she is a conservative but don't ask her what she thinks! Her dad works for the state and some of her friends are teachers. She gets really nasty about this. I don't speak about this to her. She calls the governor an idiot and can't even have a conversation about it.
I wonder what will happen to the state in the long run?
Unions are definitely outdated. They served a purpose back in the day, but they don't make sense anymore. We have our own opinions here about unions but due to the public nature of the blog, I won't be sharing those opinions.
I can say that the NJ teachers union is a complete joke though. NJ prides itself on having great schools, which they do-- to an extent. The teachers union has WAY too much power. Even the teachers that don't agree with the way the union is going, feel pressured to going along with union management. Gov Christie has gotten a lot of press coverage because of his fights with the teachers unions. Frankly, teachers need to quit thinking they're the only profession that has to make cuts. NJ has even paid all of the teacher's health care. ALL of it. I don't think there's another state out there that does that. when the union got wind of the fact that Gov Christie wanted to start making teachers pay a SMALL portion of their health care benefits, the union completely freaked out. I just don't understand it. Most people are losing their jobs and would love to be able to work, while the teachers feel they're being "picked on". Something's gotta give or the kids' education will certainly lose out in the end.
I don't think unions are outdated but I do think they have too much power. Unions serve a useful purpose in that they enable the "little guy" to be heard. However, they also tend to have a very adverse affect on the employer/employee relationship. I am not against public sector unions but they need to have heavy restrictions since they are on the taxpayer's dime.
We have several unions here at the UI. SEIU is the nurses union and causes problems but AFSCME, which covers most of the non-salaried UI employees generally does its members a good service and tries to maintain a good relationship with the administration. There have been several examples lately of the administration overstepping their bounds and unfairly firing employees. The union stepped up ensured that due procedure was followed. The result was that one of the individuals was reinstated when it was determined that they were not at fault.
I think the governor of WI made a good decision but he needs to make sure he is not throwing the baby out with the bath water. There needs to be much more fiscal responsibility in the government. What the Governor did was relatively painless but what he and all of his fellow governors need to do is take a serious look at their budgets and make the hard decisions. Take a look at many of the social programs and make a determination if a family of 6 really needs $800 worth of food stamps for example.
Oh, and one more reason I don't feel too sorry for our teachers union out here. Cherry Hill has a school librarian making $92,000 a yr. A librarian. When your librarian is pulling that kind of paycheck for simply knowing the Dewey decimal system and liking to read, there are surely some priorities off. It's an important job, but good grief. Maybe that's what I should do when Jake starts school in the fall!
I agree with you, Chelsey. I have no sympathy for our teachers here. They whine that they are underpaid and some of them truly are - particularly the newer ones. I have no problem paying good teachers good wages but all too often the high wages are being paid to the teachers that have simply been around the longest. I would love to make $92,000 to work 10 months of the year.
Jen, what is your take on this? Perhaps you have some insights that neither Chelsey nor I have.
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