One of the piano keys the Democrats are pounding with all of their might is that they are "bringing back high-paying, Union jobs" to Michigan.
There is a good chance that the piano key is out-of-tune and the Dems are tone-deaf.
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| Approximately 14% of all employees are "Public sector". If 40% of Public sector employees are Unionized, then 5.6% of all employees are Public-sector/Union. |
A very large percentage, perhaps half, of the employees who are Unionized are government employees. They vote Democratic even when they are dead.
In total, only about 12% of all employees are represented by Unions. In many cases, the other 88% deeply resent the protections Unionized employees enjoy. They get fired for far smaller infractions than their Unionized brethren enjoy. When there is a problem, guess who gets fired.
So when a Democratic candidate brags about spending $170k to create one, Union job...I am not sure that the other 88% of the tax-payers who are non-Union workers will hear that well.
There is also tension among the electorate with regard to public schools delaying re-opening even after Covid mortality data became more available. Non-union workers were left in a lurch with regard to finding care for their kids while THEY were working (often under arduous conditions of facemasks and high calorie-burn) because Unionized school employees said "No!".
I have no animosity toward Unions. If a Union shop can compete on a level playing-field and win-the-business, GREAT! If they cannot win the business without tilting the pinball machine then the more competitive firms and the tax-payer should not be penalized.
Napoleon is reputed to have said "When your enemy is making a mistake, do not stop them."
This is one of those cases.
I have worked and had book in many great unions and I come from a long line of union family . But . I must admit that I prefer the non-union way of doing business . I can pay my hardest working guy more than the guy that is always talking . Ditto for the guy that never turns down a request to work on a weekend or stay over . At the union job I had to contact 64 guys to ask if they wanted to work over for an emergency job before I got to my youngest gung ho guy Craig who never once turned the offer down . It is no wonder union membership is waning . Just like the gubermint they regulate you to the point of absurdity . I still love the union way though I mourn the commie influence . Yes ! Commies got in .
ReplyDeleteMy father was a union member and did very well by them (and worked hard for them). That said, the spectacle I have is friends in the education industry where they cannot remove an underperforming or lazy teacher because they are "union".
ReplyDeleteThat statistic of who the unions is fascinating.
In my opinion, much of the reason for being for unions has become law over the last century.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, they were coopted by politicians and criminals/ monsters/ power hungry as they lost their reason for being...
Unions CAN be good these days but rarely are.
I've heard good things about an up and coming nurses union that is focused solely on helping workers and stays away from politics.
The other perspective to view this information is to challenge the idea the the Public Sector is always wiser and kinder and more altruistic and just BETTER than the Private Sector.
DeleteIf the Public Sector is so darned kind, then why do Public Sector employees feel a need to be Unionized at a rate that is seven times higher than the Private Sector.
Seen through that lens, it must be incredibly AWFUL to have Public Sector bosses trying to control your life.
Point. Match. Set.
I could be wrong but I suspect that at least the ?Democratic governments like government unions as an effective tool to get the voting block out. The UAW was the union for social services and they were always pimping for the democrats.
DeleteI have no real issue with private unions. However, I firmly believe that unions for public employees should be illegal. The public interest is never represented at the negotiating table when public employee unions are involved.
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