The Ebb and Flow of Rights

By William L. Garvin

If you carefully review the United States Constitution, you cannot find the words “labor union” or “collective bargaining.” Nowhere in the Bible or other Ancient Writings can you find these words. These institutions and processes are legislative creations; they are not Constitutional rights or inalienable rights with which we were endowed by our Creator.

Accordingly, our industrial history is characterized by an ebb and flow of management rights and union rights. From a certain perspective, management rights were “assaulted” by the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935, which established the legal right for private sector employees to belong to unions and for those unions to strike. Congress felt it necessary and appropriate to curtail management abuses, such as sweat shops, child labor and unsafe working conditions. In 1947, the Taft-Hartley Act “assaulted” union rights because of union abuses, secondary boycotts, closed shops, and discriminatory practices. In retaliation, John Lewis called for nationwide strikes in the coal mines even though this country was in the middle of a war! Union rights were further “assaulted” by the Landrum-Griffin Act in 1959 which required full financial accounting and disclosure by union leadership to their members. This was appropriate and necessary because of the widespread graft and corruption within unions at the time.

When the Wagner Act was enacted, government employees and government unions were specifically excluded. President Franklin Roosevelt, the liberal champion of unions (who added 15 million workers to the government payroll!) was in full agreement. “…the process of collective bargaining…cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people….” In simpler terms, how can the people bargain with themselves? How can the government strike against itself?

Since 1959, many states have ignored this inherent conflict and not only removed the taxpayer from the bargaining loop, but in essence, forces the taxpayer to subsidize the opposition. Taxpayers pay government salaries. Unions force members to pay part of that salary to the union. Unions then use those dues to elect political candidates who in turn will approve the union contracts that require more taxpayer money.

In the private sector, if unions become too expensive, the company goes out of business. Government never goes out of business, no matter how expensive or unproductive they become. According to a 2007 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, 95% of government union members had a defined-benefit pension. In the private sector, only 21% had such a generous benefit. In all too many situations, government retirees not only retire at earlier ages but with cost of living adjustments actually make more than they earned while employed!

What is this costing the taxpayer? Since Wisconsin is currently center stage and teachers are in the spotlight, let’s look at the cost and their work product. In 2008, the federal government provided $669.6 million in subsidies to public schools in Wisconsin. Wisconsin in turn increased their spending to $10,791 per student. The average private sector employer contributes 5.3% to employee pensions; in Wisconsin, the government contribution ranges from 10.55% to 13.3%. (Most Wisconsin state employees pay NOTHING toward their pensions!) As for health insurance, employees nationwide pay approximately 29% of their health care premiums; Milwaukee teachers pay only 8%. The nationwide employer cost for health insurance is $13,770 but Milwaukee schools pay $26,846 per teacher family.

Do you get what you pay for? The U.S. Department of Education administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests. In 2009, the latest year available, only 34% of Wisconsin public school eighth graders earned a “proficient” or “advanced” rating in reading. Two-thirds earned a “basic” or “below basic” rating. The NAEP rating system definition: “Basic denotes partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade.” Taxpayers are not getting what they are paying for. They wouldn’t mind paying top dollar if they were getting a quality product. As for bargaining rights, keep in mind that whatever government has given, government can take away…especially when taxpayers are fed up. It’s happened before.