I never know what I am going to write about when I get up and I had no intention of writing about Unions this morning. Decades ago there was a necessity for them—today it is a totally different landscape. After reading about the Kravis Center, the thought occurred to me that aside from totally inept management in some cases, Unions have played a big part in working America’s problems today.I have to give a lot of credit to the Unions for helping to bring down our auto industry by putting a gun to their heads—wanting huge salaries, retirement for life, medical, you name it, while the companies' profits eroded to such an extent that it destroyed them and they no longer can compete in the global or domestic market. I know. Some of you are going to say we have an inferior product. Bolderdash!
The Unions have forced companies to outsource good jobs just to stay profitable. Here in Lake Worth, we were “forced” (the proverbial 3 to 2 vote) to dissolve our local Police Department and merge it with the Sheriff’s Department on the excuse that we no longer could afford the Pension Retirement benefit. We are still, to this day and every day forward until these people die, paying for more than half of them who did not elect to go with the Sheriff’s Pension Plan. Maybe not. Perhaps the retirement benefit passes on to the surviving spouse for all I know.
The other night it was said by our Mayor that the Employees Pension Fund has lost $11.9 million dollars. I feel for this. I have lost money too. We all have and we all have had to bite the bullet. Not the Unions, though. Not our city workers either. All employees got a 5% raise in the City of Lake Worth, or so I was told, and the CRA Director managed to get a 10% raise. A $100,000 a year plus benefits was not enough!
In the Post editorial this morning it talks about the Kravis Center and it suggests its need to drop the law suit and work out a deal with the Unions. I think the problem is that the Unions did not want to deal thus the lawsuit. However, what struck me was the chain of events: The Union contract was up. It went into negotiation. The Union said “no way, I want this, and this, and this and just plain more of this.” The Kravis then ended the discussion and decided to hire non-union workers in the place of union workers. I mean, afterall, the Contract was up! Voila! A law suit filed by the Union. So, it seems that you can’t even hire who you want in America today. You are held hostage to the Unions.
Then I read about our Museum curator, who as you all know, will be staying afterall. I had no idea how much money she made until the other night. $12 an hour is what people are paying their baby sitters today. And that is essentially what this job was—baby sitting our artifacts and giving the occasional visitor a history lesson. Now they suggest that this curator take displays on the road, marketing it. If they change her job description, and she takes on more duties, she should make more money. This is probably why there are unions..inept management that takes advantage of some workers.
But overall, Union greed has diminished and has nearly destroyed, what once was considered “free” enterprise. Union members are guaranteed high raises whether they perform well or not. They are not held accountable and it is impossible to fire one unless he has committed a crime. It is a growing problem and if it is not addressed, in about 25 years we will end up with only the educated wealthy and the uneducated poor. The middle class will be gone because there will no longer be a place for them. What will all you “open border” people do then?
