I worked in the labor relations field early in my career. I understand the tension in the private sector between profit-seeking management/ownership and workers whose career capita (and thus their leverage in the employment relationship) is slight relative to their longevity and age. Without a union, it could be too easy to cast them or their interests aside for no compelling reason. I also think it is easy to sweep legitimate complaints/grievances from employees under the rug if management is not attuned to maintaining a positive culture and engaged workforce. So, yes, unions have had their place.

My position has always been that if I were to own a company it would be non-union because employees would be treated as valued contributors to business success and thus would see no benefit in unionizing. I also contend that, in the vast majority of cases, a company that gets a union generally deserves one because of its employee relations track record.

But public sector employees are not up against profit-seeking interests. And, mistreatment of them will cause unrest, poor service delivery, and ultimately potential rejection of the relevant office-holders by voters. Public officials, in other words, have a vested interest in being good employers, even if not efficient providers of services to the public.

So, what do public employee unions do? Take advantage of their hospitable environment and ask for more of the same. Beats me why we, as taxpayers, stand still for it; it’s a stacked deck.