Pirate's Cove

Realistically, in most cases, why are there unions for federal agencies? The whole point of a union was to protect workers from harsh, unsafe working conditions, from bad bosses, and to negotiate for better wages and benefits. Well, in most cases, federal workers do not have harsh, unsafe working conditions (except for Gen Z, who thinks a 40 hour work-week an having to come into the office is mean). Democrats tell us that Government Is Good, so, why would they have bad bosses, especially when most are also liberals? And federal workers have much higher wages and benefits than most private workers. But, that is what the unions are really doing: negotiating with Dems to get more and more at the expense of the federal taxpayer, then donating back to Dems

Trump Administration Begins to Strip Federal Workers of Union Protections

The Trump administration has moved forward with a plan to end collective bargaining with federal unions across a swath of government agencies, even after arguing in federal court that it would not do so until a legal battle over an order President Trump signed was over.

The Department of Veterans Affairs said on Wednesday that it had moved to strip labor protections for more than 400,000 of its workers — most of whom are represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union for federal employees.

The department’s announcement included attacks on union activities and leadership, and Doug Collins, the head of the agency, argued in a statement that the “unions that represent V.A. employees fight against the best interests of veterans while protecting and rewarding bad workers.”

Everett Kelley, the president of the A.F.G.E., said in a statement that the V.A.’s decision was “another clear example of retaliation” against unions that have opposed Mr. Trump’s plans to slash the federal bureaucracy. Mr. Kelley accused Mr. Collins of choosing to “rip up the negotiated union contract” of the majority of his work force.

Well, not really: Republicans have long wanted to end most federal unions, or, at least, strip most of their power. Government unions should not be negotiating with friendly government to get more and more while doing less and less.

With few exceptions, union employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs have now lost the rights and protections provided by a 308-page collective bargaining agreement between the agency and the federal employees union. Those include the right to have work disputes resolved by a neutral arbitrator, and to have union stewards and leaders be granted official time on the job to work on cases and participate in contract negotiations.

How many work disputes are there? Upset because they were written up for coming in late a lot? Weren’t allowed to take a “mental health day” because they were triggered by seeing a Trump hat?

(Thomas Jefferson Institute) Private-sector unions fight with management over an equitable distribution of profits. Government unions negotiate with friendly politicians over taxpayer’s money putting the public interest at odds with union interests, just as we have seen in states such as California and Wisconsin, exploding the cost of government until we are at the breaking point today.  California’s public sector pension costs soared 2000 percent in the last decade thanks to unions.

Huh. How about this from 2011

(NY Times) The founders of the labor movement viewed unions as a vehicle to get workers more of the profits they help create. Government workers, however, don’t generate profits. They merely negotiate for more tax money. When government unions strike, they strike against taxpayers. F.D.R. considered this “unthinkable and intolerable.”

Government collective bargaining means voters do not have the final say on public policy. Instead their elected representatives must negotiate spending and policy decisions with unions. That is not exactly democratic – a fact that unions once recognized.

Interesting.

(City Journal) Even if the Trump administration prevails against the unions in court, however, its victories could be undone by a future White House. The most effective way permanently to curb public union power in Washington—and restore accountability in the bureaucracy—is for Congress to repeal federal employees’ collective-bargaining rights. (snip)

To that end, Trump should push the GOP-controlled House and Senate to pass legislation banning federal workers from collectively bargaining. He and other leaders should frame that policy as a way to save taxpayers’ money. As the Institute for the American Worker has shown, the collective-bargaining process costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars yearly.

Not sure if they can get that through the barely controlled Senate. They could maybe leave working conditions clauses in, especially when it comes to protecting law enforcement, but, collective-bargaining needs to end.