Libertarian Librarian

That's a union's job right? Agitate for the little guy, and make the greedy corporate overseers beg for mercy. Nowadays, most unions are sticking it to the little guy, rather than sticking up for him. So, when Roger Toussaint, the NYC transit union president, says that union members are not greedy I would respond, maybe not, Roger, but you sure are selfish SOBs.

How else to explain how a union in which the average worker makes $63,000 annually, pays nothing, nada, zilch, zippo for their health insurance coverage and receives a full pension at age 55 can possibly feel that a 3.5% raise is sufficient cause to engage in an illegal strike that causes massive havoc for several million of their fellow citizens and costs the economy of their city several hundred millions of dollars? In the old days, unions served a purpose-- forcing companies to provide health care, to pay overtime, to prohibit 16 hour days, and to implement safety measures. Today, their main purpose is to fill the coffers of the union, put economic stress on the companies and governments they work for-- to the point of bankruptcy in some cases-- and to expand priviliges for members that already far outstrip most of their counterparts in the private/non-unionized sector.

All of which hamstrings companies and municipalities across the nation, increases taxes on everyone as government agencies struggle to fully fund pension and health care plans for unionized employees, increases the cost to the consumer as unionized companies pass on the cost to the end user and serves precisely no purpose except to enrich the union.

On top of THAT the unions have the gall to be ungrateful about it? What a crock.

Fortunately, NYC didn't blink this time and the fines and threats of jail time were sufficient to get the union to end their illegal strike. Hopefully, NYC will stick to its guns and not agree to a better deal with the union-- ideally, NYC will reduce their offer, citing the 100s of millions they lost during the strike as the justification. "So sorry, Mr. Toussaint, but the city recently suffered a major economic setback due to the illegal actions of small number of our citizens. We're afraid we can no longer afford to offer your union a 3.5% raise and a modest 6% employee contribution to the pension fund. Because of our losses, we're going to have to cut the offer to 2.5% and a 10% employee contribution."

Now that would be sweet.