Republican assaults on public service unions moved this week from Wisconsin to Ohio and Indiana. And, yes, this is a partisan battle with the anti-union cadres getting big bucks from Wichita’s Koch brothers and their Americans for Prosperity organization. Union members may represent the largest bloc of Democrats in the country. Of those, most belong to public service unions and represent teachers and some state employees.
Only 6.9 percent of workers in the private sector belong to unions today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the number of unionized workers in the public sector has held steady at 35 percent since the late 1970s, the Associated Press reports. (In Iola, for example, teachers are the largest group of union members.)
A successful effort to weaken public service unions would be a heavy blow to the Democratic Party.
All three states have new Republican governors who came into office with the backing of far-right conservatives. All three have large deficits. All three governors are backing bills that would weaken or practically eliminate the right of public employee unions to bargain collectively. All three loudly proclaim that the effort must succeed if their state budgets are to be brought back into balance.
The Koch brothers can make anti-union arguments that appeal to victims of the recession, particularly in states such as these. Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana all have suffered gravely from the loss of manufacturing jobs over the last decade. People who lost high-paying jobs in Detroit and other manufacturing hubs can look with envy on government workers who have good wages and benefits that look spectacular to men and women who now are struggling in dead-end jobs to make ends meet.
The median salary in government jobs in Ohio is 20 percent higher than average private sector jobs there. That is a comparison that hits home with lower income voters. Add to the pay differential perks such as early retirement, a decent pension, health insurance and generous sick pay policies — all paid for by the taxpayer — and the anti-union spiel gains appeal.
THAT IS NOT the whole story, of course. A large part of the pay differential is because government workers are more skilled than the average private sector worker. More than half of government workers have college degrees — all teachers have bachelor degrees, a great many have master’s degrees, a growing number of administrators have doctorates. Far fewer private sector workers are as well educated.
Comparing apples to apples, private sector workers with college degrees earn more.
The biggest weakness in the case against public sector unions is that it is so one-sided.
Only the Democrats get hammered. In Wisconsin, for example, the same governor who is bound and determined to strip state worker unions of their rights to bargain rammed through a bill giving tax breaks to businesses, a sector of the economy dominated by Republicans.
The need to trim government spending at all levels and balance local, state and national budgets is accepted by most Americans. The need to balance those budgets fairly should be as appealing.
There are two ways to eliminate deficits: cut spending, increase income. Cutting spending alone puts government employees out of work or reduces their incomes. The effect of budget cutting may not become apparent to the general public for months, even years — but takes an equally long time to repair. For example: Gov. Sam Brownback took $250 million from tax income earmarked for highways and used it elsewhere. As a consequence, KDOT will have to trim back its maintenance and construction by that much. Highway work left undone will make motorists pay for the cutback.
Spending on education also was reduced by millions. As a consequence, Kansas children will be less well equipped to succeed.
If our state’s budgets are balanced only by spending cuts, not only will state employees suffer, but the services the state provides to its citizens will be reduced in quality and quantity.
Budget balancing should be done in a balanced way.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
