Good question – why?

Michelle Malkin has a Labor day post about Unions in general.  One of the things that caught my eye was this snippet (emphasis mine):

The Center for Union Facts is marking Labor Day by reminding Americans of union fatcats and the corruption of Big Labor. The state of the unions is…not good:

* Union membership is down to 7.4 percent of private sector employees and down to 12 percent overall (government employees are highly unionized, at a rate of 36.2 percent) – that’s down from a high of 20.1 percent in 1983

* Union bosses continue to be criticized for their lavish salaries, even while their membership declines

* Even after several major unions split from the AFL-CIO to improve their growth, some have found little success

Things are so bad with one carpenters’ union that it outsourced picketing duties to homeless people.

Last things first: hey! It’s capitalism!  Let those who can do the job best at the cheapest price do it while you do more value-added things at a higher price.  HEH!

Here’s my question:

WHY are unions favored in the public sector? 

I understand why (partially) the decline in the private sector – often times when someone who is "good" (e.g., competitively better than others in a given field) understands that fact and seeks to better themselves via our capitalistic system.  Thus, willing to work harder to achieve that success, why be burdened with union rules that would not allow that to happen?  My eldest has made that choice – even though initially starting at a position at a union shop would have been better in the beginning, he chose a position that better allows for advancement through working working harder and "smarter" (or so his reasoning is going) over the longer term.

But what is the difference in the public sector that I just don’t get?  Union contracts will get scrutinized more than individual workers, lots of laws have been passed for protection…and more?  Bosses are bosses no matter where you go – some are rotten, some are great, and most try hard to get the job done – so that shouldn’t be the answer, right? And right now, public sector jobs pay better (on average) and have better bennies than most private sector positions, thus?

Leave a comment – tell me why, or tell me off!