Craziness back in Madison

In the state of Wisconsin the public unions are under their greatest threat ever. Essentially, the governor has put their backs to the wall and if they lose this battle, they really don't have a reason to exist. The governor's stated purpose is the budget issue. He needs to cut expenses on public employees, but he's reaching beyond the cost issue to essentially neuter the unions. He's trying to make it harder for them to collect dues, annually decisde whether or not they can continue to exist and limit them to only negotiating wages in line with inflation. He's characterizing it as all about the budget, but it clearly isn't. I'm not sure what his angle is other than potentially, higher career ambitions and making a name for himself.

Unions have waned. Once a big deal, but not so much any more. I've got mixed views on unions. On the one hand, they have been a great boon to the American worker and increased the standard of living for untold people. Studies have shown that unions have raised the standard of living for all kinds of people in a community, not just unior members.

On the other hand, unions negotiate for the lowest common denominator. Their role is not to protect the best employees. They protect the schmucks and morons who can't do anything right. Like the NRA, they take a somewhat rational position and make it legalistic and beyond the logical extreme.

Unions can suppress innovation by restricting hour and roles. Somebody might want to finish something they are working on or improve their product, but the union would tell them to go home after 8 hours or that hurts everyone. They care more about time served than ability or effort. I guess, I don't think unions have caught up to new economic realities. Their legalistic approach now looks like one of the causes of America's decline.

Overall I still think unions are a good thing. I think companies like Walmart and McDonalds should be ashamed of how hard they have worked to keep people from unionizing. But unions need to figure out how to look beyond the small number of people they are protecting and consider how to beome partners with business, or that small number of union people will just keep shrinking.