The Beav wrote:More war against unions and the middle class, while the rich get richer. I totally believe that the retribution against unions for their support of Schauer will last until the next generation. I fully expect to be a laid off public school teacher in the next two years due to surgically precise cuts to education in this state.
That's some post-election frustrated hyperbole. Today's unions are an anachronism that fit the economy 50 years ago but are a poor fit for today's economy. Public unions allow inefficiency and sub-par performance to survive and drive out innovation and high achievement. Add that to the fact that the traditional labor-management adversarial roles become co-dependent when Democrats support unions and unions support Democrats, and its clear to me that public employee unions need to go away.
Look at all the turmoil caused by over-generous pension and healthcare plans, early retirement ages and the ever-increasing cost of healthcare, not to mention longer life expectancies. Politicians gave away the store, knowing they wouldn't be held accountable 30 years down the line, and it would get them union member votes and union campaign contributions. When companies acted that imprudently, they paid for it with their corporate lives. They went bankrupt, their shareholders lost everything, the company vanished or was reconstituted with new funds from new owners and their employees' pensions took a big hit.
With government employees' pensions, even in bankruptcy, there's always the taxpayer to squeeze for more taxes or reduced services. In my local schools, class sizes have gone up, librarians have been laid off, music teachers have been cut, pay-to-play fees have increased, bus transportation has been reduced, field trips have been cancelled, parents are asked to supply things the district should supply, and good but low-senority teachers have been let go. All of which affects the kids.
What hasn't been hit as much are salaries, benefits and pensions. While there have been some cuts is those areas in some years, it's nothing compared to what has happened to the private sector. When push comes to shove, the teacher's union and school board have worked to preserve the compensation packages of the adults at the expense of the kids' education. Even in the heart of the recession, when companies were laying off employees and slashing pay and benefits, our districts' teacher took a 1% cut (but kept the step increases). All the intital cuts were to things directly affecting the kids and parents (class size, buses, library, music, sports).
They could have broomed some expensive but ineffective teachers and admins, and even played hardball with the compensation packages across the board (where was a Michigan teacher going to go in 2009, with an underwater house and good salary/benefits especially compared to our low cost of living?), but they did what they always do. So things like RTW are an attempt to rebalance the equation. The market will work things out in the private sector, as most heavily unionized businesses have gone out of business or restructured to a more sustainable union relationship.
