UNIONS, WORKERS, AND LEGISLATURES

By Frank Montelione, Space Coast Tusk Designer

Various Unions organized rallies against Governor Rick Scott’s proposed budget on March 8. These rallies had been in the planning stages for the past few weeks, with the assistance of the same group that aided demonstrations in Wisconsin and other states – “Organizing for America,” whose website can be found at www.barackobama.com.

Here in Brevard , we had our own demonstrations near the government center in Viera. I have a few observations about what took place, and my own views on what should have taken place, and they are vastly different. Unfortunately, no one asked for an opinion and none was given. I only found out about the counter demonstrations the night before the rally. The counter demonstration was then scheduled for 30 minutes after the “Wake up Florida” Rally.

Poor planning? That’s being kind. We are still playing catch up with the greatest community organizer this country has ever seen, Barrack Obama and his Organizing for America, and they are pulling away.

Let’s start with the late notice. Some of us are good conservatives. Notice I didn’t say “Republicans.” To me, most conservatives that hold our common views actually work for a living, don’t take stimulus money, and find ways to support themselves and their families without government assistance. That being said, 24 to 48 hours notice doesn’t give conservative groups time to organize properly.

If you have been paying CLOSE attention to what has actually been happening, you would know that many of the demonstrators are not the “teachers” the main stream media has been telling you about. In fact, some are not even from Florida. Think about the close proximity of Georgia to Tallahassee. It was not hard for Organizing for America and “Wake up Florida” to bus or van pool down Apalachicola Parkway to the Capitol from Georgia.

Their timing wasn’t well thought out either. Political Science Lesson number 1: SESSION HASN’T STARTED YET AND THERE IS NO SOLID BUDGET TO PROTEST. Having been involved in the process, I can tell you that before there is anything to protest about, we first have to see the budget that will be proposed by the Florida House of Representatives. Next will be the Florida Senate Budget proposal, which I can almost guarantee will be far different from the House proposal. We’ve only seen the governor’s budget.

Step two: Once all three proposals are on the table, the differences must be reconciled in CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. What comes out of that will be vastly different from what we will be seeing within the next few weeks. So the timing was poorly conceived. The time to hold these protests would be just prior to when the final budget is revealed.

Step 3: Remember also, it isn’t the state that negotiates the contracts with the Teacher’s Union; it’s the local School Districts in most cases.

What amazes me is that we’ve had all through the primary process and the general election process to listen to what Governor Scott proposed to do. The Democrats and the Independents heard the same message we all heard, and Scott is keeping his word and doing exactly what he said he would. He’s operating this state as a business and not as a political entity. Why did the opposition think things would be different once the elections were over? How refreshing to see a “new” politician keep his word! Do we have to agree with him? No! Should we be surprised as what he’s doing? In the words of the Geico advertisement, “What? Have you been living under a rock?”

Finally, Follow the Money. The Democrats seem to think “they have a lock” on the next gubernatorial and legislative elections because of the Republicans’ effort to “union bust.” The union bosses can encourage their members to “wildcat,” or walk off the job in order to participate in protests. Of course they won’t be penalized; they are “the union bosses,” but the youngest and brightest of the teachers in that union’s case will be faced with layoffs if an agreement can’t be reached.

They are being asked to contribute to their pensions and their medical benefits. They are being told this is tantamount to a pay cut. In actuality, they will have a slightly (5% maximum) lower pay check, continue to receive medical benefits and upon retirement, receive a pension. The alternative – LAYOFFS and no pay check.
They will continue to pay union dues, part of which will go into the campaign coffers of those politicians who promise to deliver what the union wants.

The “union bosses” will still be receiving their pay checks and have a job, which can’t necessarily be said for their members.

The union bosses are badly misreading the “tea leaves” and leading the membership down the path to perdition. The union members are happy to hear what they want to hear and are deaf to the real possibility of losing their jobs, rather than, like many, take a pay cut that would not drastically affect their family or their lifestyle.

To me the choices are clear: Pay check (maybe a LITTLE smaller) or Increase the unemployment rolls. I know where I'd be.

Now, let’s remember how Unions were formed. At one time child labor was common, sweat shops were widespread, and wages were so low that if the one bread winner of the family were hurt or worse, the family was destitute. Abuses by supervisors and managers were common. So who protected these unfortunates and pushed for fair labor laws? It certainly wasn’t the employers, who exploited the worker at every turn.
There is no argument that Unions turned to violent tactics at times, but the retribution of the major companies with the government backing was far worse. Neither side is innocent when it came to violence.

Child Labor laws were instituted, minimum wages were established, and organizations such as OSHA (Occupational and Health Administration) were organized, all to protect the minimum wage workers.

And who was responsible for these reforms – Unions.

If you are over 40 and have worked at one place for any amount of time, you have had to deal with managers who were intolerable and demanding. In a right-to-work state, you have no recourse but to look for another job and leave the abuser in place to mistreat your replacement.

Have the collective bargaining agreements gone too far in wage negotiations? In some cases, yes, absolutely.

The Teacher’s Unions now seem to be the focus of many of the news stories, so the question has to be asked, “how much do you think a good teacher is worth?” The problem is that the Unions were able to negotiate tenure and now there are far too many bad teachers with tenure that we are unable to get out of our classrooms because of a Union which out-foxed the School District negotiator.

You can’t blame the Unions for all the problems the government now faces, but I will admit that Unions have changed and have brought about intolerable situations. However, there were two sides sitting at the bargaining table. We wouldn’t be in this predicament if the side representing the employers (the taxpayer) did their job and stood strong. Fair hourly wages, reasonable health insurance, partial payments into pensions systems and realistic number of days off are all negotiable items.

It wasn’t the Unions who failed the taxpayers, it was the government negotiators who failed.