Union-busting is destroying GOP in the polls

Here is a poll from a CONSERVATIVE group on the topic...ouch...

"...Wisconsin Poll: Republican Enthusiasm Gap Vanishes...."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/10/wisconsin-poll-republican_n_834252.html

"...Gov. Scott Walker's bitter standoff with Democrats and labor unions in Wisconsin has turned the newly elected Republican into a deeply polarizing figure, eroded his standing and left him struggling to win the battle for public opinion, a flurry of recent polls suggests...."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117472988.html

It was not supposed to happen this way. The Koch/ Walker plan was to pit private sector workers (the overwhelming majority of the workforce) against public sector workers. But Democrats reminded everyone that public sector workers include the teachers who teach your kids, the people who put out fires, etc. And after they did that, the GOP union busting plan backfired.

And maybe voters remembered the stability and productivity that decent wages and employer-funded benefits provided for their families when they were growing up, and for their parents/grandparents in retirement, and realized that nobody should be without them. Maybe they'll do a full turnaround and push for the restoration of those factors in their private-sector jobs.

Sign the petition.

If govt. jobs were so great, then how come nobody who bashes "overpaid" govt. workers becomes an "overpaid" govt. worker. Are the teabaggers too stupid to pass an 8th grade level civil service exam? I've taken lots of them. They are incredibly easy.

I thought they eliminated almost all of them to allow for private-sector-style patronage instead ... ???

no, that's what Bloomberg is trying to do. But it will never pass. Thankfully the vast majority of jobs require examinations.

Here's what happens when you have a patronage job system without examinations:

MTA HR staffer is being investigated for allegedly taking bribes in exchange for entry-level jobs

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/02/25/2011-02-25_mta_probes_hr_staffer_in_bribesfortransit_work_scam_fasttracking_jobs_for_cash.html

That's the way the Federal jobs work now, except for a few technical areas. No more civil service exams. Just cronies large and small.

that's true. In order to get hired by the federal govt. you pretty much either need to know someone or be a veteran. The Defense Dept. has pretty much become a jobs program for veterans since they fill the vast majority of civilian positions. The only jobs the feds still give exams for are law enforcement.

" But Democrats reminded everyone that public sector workers include the teachers who teach your kids"

Of course, it also includes the teachers who can't teach your kids....

;-)

"If govt. jobs were so great, then how come nobody who bashes "overpaid" govt. workers becomes an "overpaid" govt. worker."

Oh jeez, alpo idiocy again...

Because the folks who know they're overpaid who take them don't want others to know they are overpaid and lower their pay.

"Because the folks who know they're overpaid who take them don't want others to know they are overpaid and lower their pay."

Well, thanks to Fox Noise and the Murdoch Street Journal, everyone knows how much govt. workers make. It's not a secret dimwit.

E.g., for public employees in NYS: http://www.seethroughny.net/Payrolls/EmployeeSearch/tabid/69/Default.aspx

"Maybe they'll do a full turnaround and push for the restoration of those factors in their private-sector jobs."

And the money will come from where exactly??? The tooth fairy? Healthcare and other benefits costs have skyrocketed- its not affordable for companies to provide the cadillac plans the govt workers have at no cost to employees of private companies. The money isnt there- for either the public or the private sectors. And if the general public is stupid enough to want to pay more and more taxes so the unionized public employees can continue to have their gold plated benefits and pensions while the general private sector does not, then the american public is stupid.

> And maybe voters remembered the stability and productivity that decent wages and employer-funded benefits provided for their families when they were growing up, and for their parents/grandparents in retirement, and realized that nobody should be without them. Maybe they'll do a full turnaround and push for the restoration of those factors in their private-sector jobs.

maybe americans will end up realizing that if health care is a public good, it has to be publicly funded outside from the labor market, same with aging costs. sales tax, property tax component... will be inevitable to pick up part of the burden of health care and aging costs as it's done in netherlands. you have to widen the tax-base and make everybody pay, even those that don't work for a wage, those +65 as they are holding +80% of USA wealth. they have to help with rising aging costs.

workers cannot compete globally when other countries have gov provided health care and their increase productivity goes not to them but to pay the increase costs of these 2 burdens. americans have to decide whether they want to compete globally or not.

labor mkt laws at the federal level are draconian, only Swaziland and Papua New Guinea don't have maternity leave like USA (in these 3 countries is up to your employer). labor mkt family un-friendliness and lack of flexibility (part-time work) will end up causing lower participation in the long run. it's not a cute picture imho.