Spoiled brat public employees are crying because a measure added to a House Bill might put their employment on parity with everyone else.
The measure states–if I understand it correctly–that if the union contract expires and has not been renewed, and no new contract is yet negotiated, those employees become at-will workers who can be treated (wait for it) like everyone else.
This is important to understand. Most of us are at-will workers. We choose to remain employed and our employer chooses to retain us, for some purpose. Should either one of us find those terms incompatible with our needs we can choose to reach a new agreement or end the relationship. We are at-will workers.
Union employees have a different arrangement. And all current contracts are still covered by the evergreen law meaning current raises and benefits remain in force until a new contract is negotiated. So work units have no incentive to negotiate unless they think they can barter a better deal. In this economy that is unlikely so they have no incentive to bargain. Your town budget may need a trim, but the unions wont have to share any of that burden as long as they hold out.
If the new proposed measure passes, however, any bargaining unit that has not negotiated a new deal, loses its bargaining power and everyone under that expired contract becomes an at-will worker, just like the other 85-90% of employed Americans, until they can find the will to negotiate a new one. It doesn’t end the union, it just forces their hand to get to the table and cut a deal. But while they are at will-workers their employer, you (or your elected or appointed representatives) can treat them like any other employee at any other job. They can change or negotiate the terms of employment. To avoid this fate union bosses simply need to do what union bosses are supposed to be doing; negotiate the terms of employment.
Instead, they are crying like babies about how this will kill jobs and ruin the state. No. Actually it will just require the union to do its job–negotiate a contract–and allow the town or state to seek competitive arrangements with them. And to be honest, it might kill off a few union jobs, but since when did the union really care about jobs. In the past few years they have been more than willing to let the state fire workers rather than negotiate and use those terminations as political fuel to justify their existence.
Nice boss. Sorry union hack. As your union boss I need you to get fired so I can keep my job and make a point. And the point? The union boss gets to keep his job and spend your dues money however they see fit.
Democrat lawmakers are also crying foul as if this was some sneaky, late night change no one would ever know about. New Hampshire democrats know all about late night, last minute changes, so you would think they could tell the difference. Unlike their surprise taxes and fees at post-midnight budget sessions where they were scrambling for new taxes on the last day on which the budget was due, these proposed changes will see hearings and committees, and serious debate. So cries about a lack of transparency are absurd but I want to encourage the left to continue to make that case.
We have plenty of examples of New Hampshire democrat "transparency" to measure against. Every time the left cries wolf we can roll out any number of past democrat wolves for the people to take stock of. Think of it as free publicity for why they got flogged in 2010.
As for the public unions, they have outworn their purpose–if they even ever had one other than to fund the party most interested in growing government. And their new purpose is destructive and partisan, and cannot survive in the new Obama economy except as overlords and arbiters of state power.
So they will of course resist. And in doing so expose themselves further for what they are. Spoiled brat thugs demanding that you part with more of yours so they don’t have to part with any of their own.
