Tag: Public sector unions

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How To Abolish Public Employee Unions

George Noga

Public sector unions violate Article IV of the US Constitution
GEORGE NOGA – MAY 28, 2023

Public employee unions are one of the greatest, if not the greatest, dangers to our American democracy. This post provides a roadmap for abolishing them. First, some background. Not that long ago public unions did not exist and there was universal agreement they had no place in government. None other than FDR said:

“Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has insurmountable limitations when applied to public employees. The very nature and purpose of government make it impossible.”

Even the union movement agreed collective bargaining had no place in government. Labor leaders viewed unions as a vehicle for workers to get a larger share of the profits they helped create. However, public employees do not generate profits. The AFL-CIO stated government workers have no rights except to petition Congress.

The dam broke in 1959 when Wisconsin allowed collective bargaining. Since then, public sector unions have metastasized and have taken effective control over governments and are unaccountable to voters; this is their Achilles heel.

The Constitution guarantees a “Republican form of government”

Article IV, Section 4 states: “The United States shall guarantee to every state in the union a Republican form of government.” There is a compelling argument that public sector unions violate this guarantee. The drafters of the Constitution did not define “Republican”. There has been jurisprudence on this point (defining Republican) over the years, including in the Federalist Papers. I have read all the relevant case law and there is no concise definition put forth by the courts directly on point. Based on my reading of the Federalist Papers and the relevant jurisprudence, I believe there is consensus that a Republican form of government is one in which:

  • The power of government resides in the people – directly or indirectly
  • The people elect representatives and give them power to serve their interests
  • Representatives represent everyone, i.e. provide for the common welfare
  • No control or special treatment is to be given to a favored class

Public unions subvert a Republican form of government

Public sector unions violate each and every one of the above characteristics of a Republican form of government. In many cities and states (primarily deep blue ones) unions exercise effective power over elections, schools, criminal justice and any other issues unions deem vital. During Covid, teachers’ unions shut down schools for years at the behest of unions and in direct opposition to the wishes of citizens. Their control of elections is particularly nefarious. They spend vast amounts of money and manpower to alter elections. Moreover, their funds are derived via one-sided collective bargaining with the same officials they put in office.

Elected officials are beholden to public sector unions and place unions’ interests ahead of those of the people they are elected to serve. They are not providing for the common welfare and unions are a favored class. Public unions’ political activity raises prima facie constitutional issues. Elected officials occupy a position of public trust and have a fiduciary duty to serve the public; this duty is in direct conflict with public sector unions. In many places, the machinery of American democracy is firmly in the clutches of powerful public sector unions. The iron-fisted grip of public unions is impervious to the electoral process and must be fixed by the courts.

It’s time for a constitutional challenge

It’s long past time to break the unholy and corrupt grip of public unions over our democracy. To be sure, it won’t be a slam dunk; but the roadmap presented in this post shows one way it can be done. Readers may judge for themselves the strength of a constitutional challenge as presented herein. What other choice do we have?

© 2023 George Noga
More Liberty – Less Government, Post Office Box 916381
Longwood, FL 32791-6381, Email: mllg@cfl.rr.com

Why Business Succeeds

George Noga

Business succeeds because its risks, rewards and incentives are aligned with human nature.

 

Why Business Succeeds

By: George Noga – June 28, 2020

           This post is a companion to the one last week entitled “Why Government Fails“. If you missed it, go to our website www.mllg.us. In that post, we revealed seven reasons why government fails. This week we explain why business succeeds.

          Business succeeds because it excels at aligning risks, rewards and incentives with human nature – unchanged since men walked on two feet. The imperative to make a profit creates urgency, focuses attention and summons great exertion because success confers wealth and status while failure has immediate and unpleasant consequences. As a result, business attracts motivated, hard working, talented, non risk-averse people whose bias favors action over inertia. Business closely aligns personal incentives with the goals of the business such that they nearly are one and the same.

           Business is based on markets, in which knowledge flows from the bottom up and confers valuable information about consumer choices and preferences along with prices. All transactions are voluntary, non-coercive and mutually beneficial; that explains why both parties to a market-based transaction always say “thank you“.

          In business, one solitary person can literally improve the daily lives of billions of people as did Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Sam Walton and Walt Disney to name a few. One driven entrepreneur can change the whole world. Moreover, businesses are able to tightly manage world-wide trillion dollar enterprises and prevent most waste, fraud, abuse and corruption through strong governance and independent audits.

Why Government Fails While Business Succeeds

       At all its levels, always and everywhere, government fails for many reasons; foremost among them is that its risks, rewards and incentives are misaligned with, and often even diametrically opposed to, human nature. Politicians and bureaucrats respond to incentives that reward them even when they are contrary to the public interest.

         Government is top down, command and control and coercive; it ignores consumer preferences. Rather than forming mutually beneficial relationships, it creates winners and losers. It divides people by race, age, income and gender.

        Government brings us TSA, Madoff, USPS, failed public schools, OSHA, Medicaid, IRS and public sector unions. People are fleeing as fast as they can from dysfunctional states like Illinois, New York, Connecticut, California and New Jersey and from cities such as Baltimore, Newark, Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago.

        Government failure is systemic, structural and incapable of reform; nonetheless,  some government is necessary because it is preferable to anarchy. The only possible remedy is to reduce its overall size and scope to the absolute minimum.

Our next post is on July 4th and celebrates Independence Day.
More Liberty Less Government  –  mllg@mllg.us  –  www.mllg.us

Public Sector Unions are Bankrupting America

George Noga
Only in the fetid parallel universe of government is unionization expanding.
Unions exact uncompensated value politically that cannot be earned on merit.
Public Sector Unions are Bankrupting America

$4 Million a Year for a Bureaucrat

By: George Noga – September 5, 2016

    US private sector union membership was nearly 50% after WWII; today it is 6% and declining as private sector workers conclude the costs of union membership are not worth the putative benefits. Public sector union membership, non-existent in 1945, is 40% and growing, as union workers average twice the compensation of the private sector for comparable jobs. In short, they use politics to extort from the rest of us.

In the private sector, market forces serve as a counterbalance to unions; if pay and benefits get too far out of line, companies lose money and go out of business. This causes unions’ interests to be closely aligned with the private companies they organize. Private sector unions become fierce advocates for private enterprise and lower taxes. This flip-flops with public sector unions; they become pro-government and anti-market agitating for higher taxes at all levels. They literally are bankrupting America.

Public sector unions have many horrors but two stand out. First is teachers unions. The NEA and other public unions are primarily to blame for our failing schools. They stand in the schoolhouse door blocking inner city kids from leaving, trapping them in failed schools. They have turned education into a jobs program for adults. They suck up more and more resources for ever declining performance. School choice is the civil rights issue of our time and the NEA is the 21st century Bull Conner, fire hoses and all.

Second, public sector unions are bankrupting America with enormous pressure for higher taxes to fund unsustainable public pensions and benefits for workers earning double free market compensation. Many jurisdictions are facing bankruptcy; others must jeopardize public safety and cut vital services to fund the aforementioned pensions and benefits. As shown in the following section, the situation is so extreme that it can cost up to $4 million per year to fund one low level civil service job.

$4 Million a Year for an Entry Level Bureaucrat

This animadversion is stranger than fiction. Assume a man begins working after high school as a unionized clerk in the Department of Motor Vehicles. He works for 30 years, eventually becoming a mid-level bureaucrat. He then retires receiving 90% of his final year pay; this is  based on 3% per year for 30 years – a common arrangement. He and his spouse (who also is entitled to benefits) collect the indexed pension for the rest of their joint lives. Of course, they also receive lifetime health care benefits.

       Our civil servant had a son at age 20 who followed precisely in his footsteps as did his grandson and great-grandson – each, in turn, working for the DMV in similar jobs. Fast forward many years; the original civil servant, his son and grandson are all alive, retired and collecting pensions and benefits. Taxpayers are paying four generations of the same family for only one active worker (great-grandson) who just began work.

      The cost, albeit well into the future, is $3-$4 million/year depending on overtime spiking, health care costs, disability status and inflation. Bottom line: taxpayers are paying up to $4 million for only one active employee, who just began work. In the private sector, the comparable amount would be under $300,000. This means the government, thanks to public sector unions and politicians, is paying up to 13.3 times (1,330%) the private sector for a low skill job. Perhaps now you can better understand how public sector unions are bankrupting cities, counties and states across America.
The next post about international trade begins our fall series addressing election issues.