Unions keep losing membership as a share of the national
workforce, which explains why organized labor's main
political focus is changing the rules to force more
workers into unions. Witness a bill that Senate
Democrats are pushing to require that hundreds of
thousands of local police and firemen submit to
collective bargaining.
Under current law, every state has the ability to set
policies that govern its public workforce. In some
states, police, firefighters and paramedics belong to
unions that collectively bargain for their contracts.
In others, unions representing public-security workers
can bargain over pay, but not over benefits or work
rules. And in some others, these workers can choose not
to belong to a union.
Democrats want to change this for the entire country. A
bill that passed the House last year would make the top
officials at local unions the exclusive bargaining
agents for public safety officers in every town or city
with more than 5,000 people. They would also have the
authority to bargain for everything -- pay, benefits and
work rules. The goal is to give labor the whip hand
with local governments, and further coerce nonunion
members to join the dues-paying ranks.
Sixteen states have considered legislation like this
since 1996 and voted it down. The bill, pushed hardest
by the International Association of Fire Fighters, would
impose it nationwide, superceding all of these state
laws. This arguably violates the Constitution's 10th
Amendment, which leaves to the states any powers not
specifically given to the federal government -- which
presumably includes a state's labor relations. It would
also conflict with constitutions in states like
Michigan, raising the threat of protracted legal
disputes.
As "unfunded" federal mandates go, this is also a doozy.
Unions that organize private companies are at least
subject to market competition. If they make their
employers uncompetitive, the union workers lose their
jobs. Public unions have far more clout because there
is no competition for government services; they are by
law a monopoly. This is especially true of police and
firefighters. Unionization gives them enormous clout
that drives up costs and eventually the tax burden.
The bill's mandates would also complicate the task of
post-9/11 public security. Federal emergency plans rely
on the cooperation of local "first-responders," who need
the flexibility to adapt to local problems and
circumstances. Work rules negotiated according to
national union standards make no sense when the safety
needs of New York City are so much different than those
in Fargo.
Local officials nationwide are fighting the bill. Under
the Obama Administration, unless local officials let
their representatives know, this bill will be law next
year. Contact your Congressman and Senator.
