Well, it looks like the Milwaukee Public Schools have also decided to close today due to teachers calling in 'sick'.
Not sure how this is all going to end up, but I agree with some that those who may be losing out the most with this whole thing are the students (yes, yes, I know, they get days off and who wouldn't like that, but that's not really the point).
This particular op-ed piece was shared this morning, and I think it does a great job of articulating some of these thoughts. Please take a gander if you have a minute or two:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-union-20110217,0,7977108.story
lol at that president roosevelt quote. "Unions for thee, but not for me -- that would be disruptive!"
ReplyDelete"Governments don't operate under the constraints of market forces. They operate under political forces. Public unions play an inordinate role in the selection of management — witness the heavy union support for Gov. Pat Quinn's election last year. In Illinois, labor and management, Republicans and Democrats, have been complicit over the years in overpromising wages and benefits. In negotiations, they essentially sit on the same side of the table: Public officials who generously compensate workers tend to reap votes, contributions and campaign work from those same employees and their unions."
This is the "pro" argument in my view of things. Unions aren't always bad, civil servants aren't bad, highly paid people aren't bad, but people using their political power to get the government to jack up your income is bad. (The "anti" side I sympathize with is that this is pretty much what the American government does for everyone above the 80th income percentile, so this makes that even more lopsided.)