A Union Snippet

"I don't think Boeing's in a position to make us pay more for our health care and stuff."

 - Casey Ferguson (Member of the Machinists Union)

Mr. Ferguson is right.  Boeing has had very little bargaining power when it comes to union negotiations.  And whilst health benefits are contracted for salaried employees and layoffs abound, the company is at the mercy of meeting the union demands to keep the company afloat...until now.  Jim Albaugh, CEO of Boeing's Commercial Airplanes Division was discussing the leverage the company has by adding a second production line in South Carolina.  If the Machinists Union in the Puget Sound chooses to strike, guess where the work goes?

South.  Both literally and figuratively.

Puget Sound union members will be out of a job, and the nuts and bolts of the work will proceed in South Carolina.

I don't believe Mr. Ferguson will be as confident if his union chooses to strike and Boeing says, "Fine. See ya!"

In January, Daniel Henninger had a great Op Ed in the WSJ. He gives a brief history on Unions and how their collective bargaining power has crippled the government's ability to choose how to spend OUR money. I think the application is equally important in terms of the challenges Boeing faces with the somewhat unpredictable Machinists Union.

Here are a few of Henninger's quotes:

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy planted the seeds that grew the modern Democratic Party.  That year, JFK signed executive order 10988 allowing the unionization of the federal work force...Kennedy's order swung open the door for the inexorable rise of a unionized public work force in many states and cities.    

They broke the public's bank.  More than that, they entrenched a system of taking money from members' dues and spending it on  political campaigns. Over time, this transformed the Democratic Party into a public-sector dependency.

Feeding the public unions' wage demands starved other government responsibilities.  It ruined our ability to have a useful debate about any other public functions.  

In the words of my friend, "Public Service Unions will bleed this country dry."  And the sad part?  Union members have little choice when deciding to join. It is their only hope for not being black-balled in the market. But once workers join, they lose control. Members work at the will of the Union and their dues are spent on campaigns with which they may not personally agree...creating the problem Henninger illustrates above.

With a large population of Union workers, these members most always: vote for increased taxes (federal and state union workers), fight school vouchers (Teachers Unions), and promote Health Care Reform (Cadillac Tax exemption for Unions).  When they do, members often avoid a real debate of the issues, but rather choose to preserve their own jobs and salaries.  It becomes self-serving at the expense of the non-union public.

Our government is at the mercy of the unions.  It's no wonder our President has a cabinet full of public-sector gurus.  Not one of them is from the private sector. Who's best interest do they have in mind? [Sidenote: that says a lot about why they don't know how to run this country]

Such a large portion of federal funds are spent in a "public-sector vortex". Campaign contributions come at a price and with the Unions it's a heavy one. One that requires the use of my money to repay.

I'm glad Boeing is making some headway in exerting pressure on the unions and thereby taking greater control over the long-term health of their company.

Our government, unfortunately, is not.  

Sources:
King 5 News - Jim Albaugh
WSJ - Henninger
On Life and Lybberty