Note: this was published on Nanaimo Info Blog in January of 2012, but like so many things, this is worthy of repeating, as few people seem to be paying attention.
Columnist Margaret Wente of the Globe and Mail made the following comment in an article she wrote dealing with the teachers' unions in Ontario.
The case for public-sector unions is arguable at the best of times. Public employees are supposed to behave in the public interest. But the more entrenched and powerful their unions become, the more money they are able to extract in the form of raises, bankable sick days, job security, generous pensions, rigid work rules, and the like. The unions’ job is to act in the interest of their members, which is inevitably contrary to the broader interests of the public. Politicians are happy to comply because the public purse is bottomless (until it’s not). Politicians are supposed to bargain on behalf of all the citizens. But the citizens don’t have unions.
While Margaret was referring specifically to the Ontario teachers' union the comment is worth considering as it applies to all public sector unions who routinely hold the taxpaying public ransom as they 'negotiate' wage and benefit packages that far outstrip anything the private sector can afford.
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