Unions, Collective Bargaining, Wisconsin, Ohio, etc.

I'm not a Union person, as such.
And, I've been all over the board as to whether I'm for 'em or against 'em.
My Uncle was a Union Painter.....although when I was living with them, I really had no idea what that meant. Mom was a single parent who worked as a secretary and she was not in a union. She met and married a man who was a Boss at GM. So the only Union I ever really heard of in my young days was the UAW.....and they were, well, not so nice; in fact, they were overbearing and demanding. Some of them scared me as a young teen, so perhaps that skewed my ideas further.
Then I went to College and learned WHY the unions came into being....and I became sorta pro-union. Yet, I always had reservations.

I guess I never "got it". Unions happened because owners/bosses were so busy creating their little "kingdoms" that they forgot that those guys down at the bottom were the productive ones....the ones that created the things that made the owners rich. And the bosses treated them more like servants ("you'll do it and like it") than the real foundations of the companies.
Unions came into being to stop that. Good for them.
Then....THEY became the usurpers and high-muckety-mucks and got all righteous and mighty and, well, might makes right, doesn't it? They demanded....and demanded...and demanded. Until the the people who BUY the products couldn't afford it and the companies began to fail. Even though they really didn't fail as MUCH as they whined, the union bosses refused to give in and got all high and mighty. Eventually, it became obvious that the UNIONS BOSSES were just as "bad" as the owner/bosses....and THEY were creating their OWN little fiefdoms, surrounded by their henchmen and good-ol-boys. In other words.....they became EXACTLY what they had fought against.

And THAT'S where I don't get it. No one looks at the big picture any more. Not the "bosses" or the Union. They need each other, but each looks at the other as a parasite...something to push against.....something to "win" over losing.

But then, we have Wisconsin (and Ohio and a few other states), who are going after some unions...."public" unions....meaning these are people who have particular jobs that the state has contracted for that has their own pensions systems (and pretty good ones at that). Both Wisconsin and Ohio have chosen to go after teachers, firefighters and police unions. Dollar for dollar, these are the "cheapest" unions to go after. I would like to see them go after the UAW, for example, or really, ANY of the AFL-CIO unions. Nope.....they go after the little ones, figuring they won't be able to do as much pot-stirring. And, they can't. Except that NOW, they have bonded together.

Once again, I don't get it....this time from the legislature standpoint.
These people provide a service. A service everyone seems to need/want. We WANT the best for our kids. We WANT to be helped out of a jam. Teachers are at the point where they should get combat pay. People call for Fire/Rescue for just about everything (including things other departments are responsible for). And we all know that cops are moving targets out there. So why pick on these people? If Police and Fire live long enough (they tend not to), why shouldn't they have decent pensions. In fact, why doesn't EVERYBODY have decent pensions. After what some people give (and give up) it only seems fair.

Of course, there are the bad parts. It does seem that the unions will stand up for the lazy butt, ne'er do well, pain in the arse person, but the newer person who is trying and maybe just not quite able to lick the butt of the guy above enough is left to hang. If anything, THAT's where Unions get the bad rap. They pick and choose....and their choices are usually in favor or somebody's buddy, not for the right thing.

But, I still don't get it. Why, if you are whining that there are not enough teachers; and/or not enough GOOD teachers; would you go after those same people? Why do you mandate that they continue their education and get Master's Degrees in Education and then not compensate them for their time, effort and now their expertise? And then, try to take their chance for betterment away from them by getting rid of collective bargaining? Who wins? NOBODY!!!! And it's time the "guys in charge" figure it out.

Our society is a team society....like it or not. The Haves and Have-nots need to work together to get the best for both. This doesn't mean that the Have-nots are "entitled" to more....it just means that the Haves need to work with them better. Yeah, that's kind of a Utopian Society.....but not quite. But if we COULD all work together, everyone would have a stake in the answer.....not just be "lording it over" someone else.