I have a friend named Mike who is a very intelligent and sensible
man. He is a strong supporter of lower taxes, the rule of law,
the military, and especially of the right to keep and bear arms;
he is, in fact, a long-time NRA member. This man takes the time
to be well informed on current events and is always on top of
pending legislation. In short, he has all the makings of a
genuine conservative except for one fatal flaw: he is an ardent
union member.
When talk of all but the most radical political candidates is
raised, he will, after talking a good game about the strengths of
the Republican candidate, invariably vote for the Democrat. He
was a vocal supporter of George W. Bush in 2000 but — like the
old-time base-stealer who had larceny in his heart but whose feet
were honest — his good intentions went by the board and he
pulled the lever for Al Gore. I thought we had him after the
attacks of 9/11, but even as much as he admired President Bush’s
conduct of the defense of our country, he continued down the
donkey path.
For all the labels put on conservatives, the most common is that
we are “one-issue” voters. Whether that issue is the sanctity of
life, national defense, border security or shrinking the
government, we are nearly always referred to in that way. Yet we
never hear about the voting proclivities of folks like Mike whose
one-issue vote is this: the enlargement and strengthening of the
American labor movement.
In this country where class warfare is ever escalating,
criticizing labor unions is sure to draw charges of elitism and
worse: siding with corporate America. But are unions and, more
importantly, union membership still beneficial to our country?
While an argument can be made for some private sector trade
unions where at least the consumer can be assured of qualified
workmen, most union growth is in the public sector where it
choking governments at every level, and not just economically.
Union membership is an attack on productivity. How many of us
know someone who, when first getting a union job, was told to
“slow down,” as they were showing up the rest of the crew? And
why should anyone make an extraordinary effort when the best
worker will get the same pay as the worst?
Collective bargaining represents a diminution of individual
responsibility and accomplishment. We can see how teachers, for
example, who are protected from being judged on their merits,
have crippled our education system. It’s funny that in the
classroom where “self-esteem” is so esteemed, the NEA should so
disdain the concept in its own members.
Unions infringe on the freedom of workers, who, even under the
protection of so-called paycheck protection laws, are basically
unable to choose the way their own dues — only 30% of which
actually goes to work-related issues — are used for political
purposes.
And most of all, as promoted by the humorously titled “Employee
Free Choice Act,” big labor is now mounting an attack on
democracy by seeking to remove secret-ballot voting from the
unionization process. The way liberals use the word “choice”
would be funny were it not so reminiscent of totalitarian
regimes. Yet, to hear union backers tell it, the deck is always
stacked against them.
A favorite complaint of unionists is that management somehow
maintains an upper hand on labor because it lobbies Congress.
Indeed, my good friend Mike claims that his employer, the United
States Postal Service, is losing out on the coveted overnight
delivery business because of greedy lobbyists from UPS and FedEx.
And sure enough, these two companies are two of the top thirty
lobbyists of the past 20 years.
But a closer look at the
heaviest hitters in the D.C. lobby game reveals that labor
unions comprise nearly half of the top third on the list,
including Mike’s own National Association of Letter Carriers,
which checks in at number 29. Not surprisingly, these big labor
lobbyists gave an average of 95% of their funds to the Democratic
Party. Coming in at number 16 on the list is the United Auto
Workers, who are in the process of being bailed out by those same
Democrats in Congress. And that’s where the rubber meets the
road.
When talking to my friend Mike who is, as I said, an otherwise
sweet and level-headed American, the very mention of the name
Ronald Reagan turns him into a froth-spewing madman. No amount of
arguing that Reagan was simply doing his duty by firing illegally
striking PATCO workers will dull the tirade, and to union
members, all Republicans still bear his “R” on their foreheads.
We conservatives are perpetually accused of being mind-numbed
robots because we come together in iron-clad support of certain
issues at the core of our national interest: the protection of
life and liberty. Now to our union friends, job security may
indeed be important, but a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
