Please Make Your Voluntary Contributions Or Else….
Jul 28th, 2008 by David Anderson
I am not anti-union. I am for local autonomy and free political choice. Please understand my motivation for this post.
The Service Employees International Union has decided to spend 150 million dollars in this fall’s election. That is their right and I don’t question it. The problem is that they apparently don’t have 150 million dollars. So they have assessed local unions a 6 dollar a person contribution to their Political Action Committee. To back this up they have passed an amendment to their rules which makes this mandatory on the locals and if the goal isn’t met, the national will garnish the shortfall from local funds plus a 50% penalty.
Two problems seem apparent with this. According to federal law these contributions are voluntary. Workers can opt out of the political contribution and not have their dues tapped for that reason. Their dues are to be used to advance their interests in the workplace not a political agenda they disagree with enough to file special paperwork in order to opt out. The second problem is the autonomy of the local union is being undermined by a new amendment. Some of the money may be better spent locally in some cases. This amendment says the local is no longer a player. If you don’t go with them, they will seize money you may need for collective bargaining. You vote for your local leaders but have no voice. It is the equivalent of taxation without representation.
The SEIU represents some of the lowest paid workers in our economy yet it has no problem using tactics of questionable legality to advance its political agenda. Even if it means depriving them of local money to accomplish what it claims to be its purpose. One has to ask do we need to give them even more power with the ability to establish a union without a vote of the workers? They don’t even seem to respect the members they have now, nor are they respecting the existing law. They could just ask for a voluntary 7 dollars and get the same result. If they were not so one sided in where they place their money nationally, more workers would cooperate. That superior attitude is why Americans don’t trust unions in spite of the benefits they have brought historically.
Vacations, minimum wage, worker safety, sick days, overtime, family medical leave, and a 40 hour week are all union pushed measures. Most people like these reforms, but there seems to be precious few ideas in the 21st century which will benefit the business and job environment on the union agenda. They seem to be flailing for a renewed purpose and that is seen with declining membership. The unions need to reform themselves so they can serve the same valuable role in the 21st century or else they will fade into irrelevance.
When did the focus on making America a better place to work? Here are some 21st century union agenda items: Leadership self preservation, hidden agendas, sky high leadership salaries that rival or exceed top managers, bloated pensions, benefits costs, corruption and holding on to their waning political influence. Most Western European countries enjoy a higher standard of living, more protection and better benefits! Just like in any other elected offices, the little guy get screwed while the fat cats eat well.
[...] (SEIU) has pledged to spend $150 million in the 2008 election. There’s just one problem. As David Anderson noted, the SEIU doesn’t have $150 million to spend on political [...]