Last night the Wisconsin Supreme Court (finally) agreed that the legislature—not the courts—writes the laws. This is a huge victory for Wisconsin taxpayers. Collective bargaining powers give unions a monopoly on labor services provided to government. The voters’ elected representatives may not hire employees except on the terms the union …
Secret ballots protect voters from intimidation. As long as a vote remains private, no one can retaliate against individuals for voting the “wrong” way. The leadership of the union movement wants to replace secret ballot union elections with “card-check”—a system where workers would unionize by signing union cards in the …
Union members in Massachusetts support Senator Scott Brown (R). So it is perhaps surprising to see Massachusetts unions announcing their plans to target him for defeat. Or perhaps not. Union bosses, not union members, decide how to spend union dues. Union bosses oppose Brown’s efforts to cut government spending. So …
Everyone knows that competition keeps prices down. However, collective bargaining eliminates competition, and downward pressure on costs, by giving government unions a monopoly. It forces voters’ elected representatives to employ workers on terms the union accepts. With collective bargaining the government cannot shop around to get taxpayers a better deal. …
“It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.” That wasn’t Newt Gingrich, or Ron Paul, or Ronald Reagan talking. That was George Meany — the former President of the AFL-CIO — in 1955. Government unions are unremarkable today, but the labor movement once thought the idea absurd. The founders …
EDITOR’S NOTE: As Wisconsin’s Democrat Senators escape to Iowa to avoid voting on Governor Scott Walker’s (R-WI) proposed budget, read Heritage analyst James Sherk’s commentary from NRO on what the fuss is all about. Wisconsinites are still celebrating the Green Bay Packers’ win in Super Bowl XLV, but taxpayers in …
Part of living in a democracy involves accepting election results. Americans know to move on when their side loses. Neither Republicans nor Democrats would suggest redoing the vote until their side won. Someone should tell that to the union movement. The Obama Administration recently made it easier to organize Delta …
President Obama just announced a partial two-year pay freeze for civilian federal workers. Under the President’s plan, federal employees will not receive cost-of-living increases in their pay in 2011 and 2012. However, most federal employees will still receive seniority-based pay increases over the next two years. The President’s decision is …
