Unions function as labor cartels. A labor cartel restricts the number of workers in a company or industry to drive up the remaining workers' wages, just as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) attempts to cut the supply of oil to raise its price. Companies pass on those higher wages to consumers through higher prices, and often they also earn lower profits. Economic research finds that unions benefit their members but hurt consumers generally, and especially workers who are denied job opportunities.
In other words, Unions literally kill jobs.
In the case of public sector unions there is almost no limit to the spending because as the politicians that back these unions and buy their votes through their patronage are spending other people's money. It is no mystery that the states with the largest unions and most pro-labor laws are also the same states with the greatest budget deficits. This is due to the vicious and dangerous cycle that union patronage perpetuates. Politicians who support and reward unions are virtually guaranteed their votes. As the union benefits grow so do the unions. Liberal politicians who reward unions through funding higher wages and benefits with tax-payer money and pass laws virtually guaranteeing the unions monopoly on the services they provide are thereby guaranteed re-election. It is no wonder most state legislators in big union states tend to be Democrats.
"I can tell you definitively that it costs $1 billion more per factory for me to build, equip, and operate a semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States," Otellini said.
The rub: Ninety percent of that additional cost of a $4 billion factory is not labor but the cost to comply with taxes and regulations that other nations don't impose."
Cypress Semiconductor CEO T.J. Rodgers elaborated on this in an interview with CNET, saying the problem is not higher U.S. wages but antibusiness laws: "The killer factor in California for a manufacturer to create, say, a thousand blue-collar jobs is a hostile government that doesn't want you there and demonstrates it in thousands of ways."
In the case of California much of the reason for those hostile anti-business practices are a bloated government system that must bleed its people in order to pay for its unparalleled public service sector that enjoys benefits and pay that have driven the state into historic levels of debt.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE | 736,592 | 733,479 | +3,113 | 689,363 | 687,147 | +2,216 | 72,120 | 71,919 | +201 | |||||||||
DEFENSE, MILITARY FUNCTION TOTAL | 712,234 | 708,562 | +3,672 | 665,062 | 662,284 | +2,778 | 71,379 | 71,182 | +197 | |||||||||
DEFENSE, CIVIL FUNCTION TOTAL | 24,358 | * | 24,917 | * | -559 | 24,301 | * | 24,863 | * | -562 | 741 | * | 737 | * | +4 | |||
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY | 281,632 | 280,790 | +842 | 261,342 | 260,394 | +948 | 21,705 | 21,755 | -50 | |||||||||
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, MILITARY FUNCTION TOTAL | 257,275 | 255,874 | +1,401 | 237,042 | 235,532 | +1,510 | 20,965 | 21,019 | -54 | |||||||||
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, CIVIL FUNCTION TOTAL | 24,357 | 24,916 | -559 | 24,300 | 24,862 | -562 | 740 | 736 | +4 | |||||||||
CORP OF ENGINEERS | 24,285 | 24,844 | -559 | 24,228 | 24,790 | -562 | 668 | 664 | +4 | |||||||||
CEMETERIAL EXPENSES | 72 | 72 | ... | 72 | 72 | ... | 72 | 72 | ... | |||||||||
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY | 190,988 | 190,281 | +707 | 183,688 | 182,946 | +742 | 26,851 | 26,608 | +243 | |||||||||
DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE |
So why aren't military service members unionized? The answer: because it is totally illegal. In military terms to "strike" is tantamount to "dereliction of duty", "failure to obey a lawful order" or in layman's term "mutiny". This is illegal under the uniform code of military justice and technically punishable by death. WOW huh!? how draconian! Yet think about the logic behind it. Could you imagine a situation where an invading Army sat at our nation's doorstep and a large portion of our military refused to fight because they were unhappy with their pay and benefits?! As a nation we place a tremendous trust in our armed forces to protect us and due to the collective importance of that task military service members voluntarily give up their rights in the service of their country. So why can't this same system work for all of the public sector?
Can you think of any organization more worthy of a pension than the military? Probably not. Yet, military pay and benefits pale in comparison to that of their civilian counterparts in the public sector. So why do they join? Well I can tell you from my experience it has a lot to do with wanting to serve and taking pride in their service. Service members still can lobby for their rights. They can write letters to congress and belong to lobbying organizations that work on their behalf. This is largely why benefits for the military continue to increase. They ask and taxpayers decide. Its all about choice. The choice to volunteer and the choice to reward those who volunteer to serve.
So if it is good enough for those fighting and dying for our country its good enough for lazy government workers, unionized teachers and all public sector workers, especially those whose inactions endanger our lives. Let's put meaning back in the term "public service" support legislation that bans collective bargaining for public sector workers NOW!!!!!!