Public Employee Unions Don’t Get One Penny from Taxpayers (But the Big Lie That They Do Is Everywhere)

March 10th, 2011 by Joshua Holland

Most of the media lazily accepts that collective bargaining by state workers is a fiscal matter – a typical headline on AOL news asked, “Can collective bargaining bills stem state deficits?” as if there is some correlation between those two things. But the evidence doesn’t suggest as much: There are already 13 states that restrict public workers’ bargaining rights and it hasn’t helped their bottom lines. As Ed Kilgore noted, “eight non-collective-bargaining states face larger budget shortfalls than either Wisconsin or Ohio,” and ” three of the 13 non-collective bargaining states are among the eleven states facing budget shortfalls at or above 20%.”

Tragically, the corporate media, rather than shedding light on these facts –which are necessary for a healthy debate — is helping to obscure them under a cloud of anti-union spin.

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Posted in Class Warfare, Conservatives, Economy, Journalism, Taxation, Unions, labor | 13 comments

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  1. JamesPMorrison:

    March 10th, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    Thank you for helping set the record straight. Not that facts matter much to those who believe the myths you’re trying to debunk, but it’s worth a try.

  2. Joshua Holland:

    March 10th, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    You just gotta keep plugging away. I also believe in arming my own side with the facts, so they can take those arguments to their RW acquaintances.

  3. H.M. Sutton:

    March 10th, 2011 at 11:06 pm

    I still keep wondering why the progressive side doesn’t broadcast this type of information WIDLY in order to counter the whacko right’s spinning of their lies. They have been doing so for decades and I’ve seldom seen the views of the other side. Maybe some billboards? And a cheap way to do it is via bumper stickers–everyone in traffic has someone behind them! Give’m something to read while stuck there. Bumper stickers are perhaps the most neglected way of communication on the cheap.

  4. greg:

    March 10th, 2011 at 11:59 pm

    Your logic is truly astounding, and from an accountant, how do you function in life , it has to be a struggle

  5. Jerbie:

    March 11th, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    Please, don’t confuse me with the facts, Archie Bunker, and in the real world lies are the manufacture of the very rich news speak outlets.

  6. Liz C. in Lee's Summit, MO:

    March 11th, 2011 at 10:28 pm

    I’m a retired federal employee and former AFL-CIO member. In the Social Security Administration where I worked in Kansas City, MO, our union workers were alloted time off from their work duties to perform union duties from the union office in the building. Wouldn’t that count as taxpayer money paying their salaries while performing union duties? Just curious.

  7. Joshua Holland:

    March 11th, 2011 at 11:10 pm

    That is illegal under the Hatch act.

  8. Dan:

    March 14th, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    “and no worker is forced to join a union against his or her wishes…”

    And no worker is forced to pay union dues, right?

  9. Joshua Holland:

    March 14th, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    Yes, workers in unionized “bargaining units” can only be forced to pay a share of the direct costs of their representation in some states.

  10. Dan:

    March 14th, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/12/AR2010061200168.html

    “But under my state’s law, I have to pay dues. Do you think this is fair?”

  11. Joshua Holland:

    March 14th, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    Please read the entire article.

    No, it is not legal in any of the 50 states to force anyone to pay union dues or to belong to a union.

    You may be forced to pay your “fair share” of the direct costs of representation, which I certainly think is fair as a majority of workers in your bargaining unit voted for representation and you get the same benefits they do.

  12. Frances in California:

    March 24th, 2011 at 7:42 pm

    You union-buster-funded trolls really need to leave Josh alone and crawl back into the space under the bathroom sink where the Koch bros. keep their diamonds in that phony cleanser can. The need for worker-solidarity is here, now; the freakin’ dues don’t amount to a weekend’s worth of beer per month. While you’re trying to kill Josh with the Thousand Cuts, your resources are being soaked up by the CEOs who – face it – do not care one wit about you.

  13. Michigan’s Radical Assault on Public Education Michigan’s Radical Assault on Public Education « Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy:

    December 10th, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    [...] (Right now, unions collect dues from all affected teachers—members or not—for bargaining, but can’t make them pay for political activities.) Richardville said right-to-teach legislation would let teachers [...]