I've been thinking about this week's protests in Wisconsin, primarily by teachers, but including other public employee groups also. I've also noticed many people posting on Facebook their support for the teachers. Some those supporting teachers are claiming that we are attacking, assaulting, and even worse to teachers, and that the state is anti-education. In reality this has little to do with teaching and education, and everything to do with the fiscal state of affairs around this country.
Many public employee unions have collective bargaining agreements (CBA) that provide benefits that often exceed anything private sector employees are getting. Over the past few decades these unions have negotiated deals which were very good for their members, but very bad for the citizens paying the bill.
A law in Ohio permits the unions to make a proposal for benefits, and the state and either accept it, or go immediately to binding arbitration. No chance to negotiate by the state. Of course the arbitrator could rule in favor of the state, but that rarely, if ever, happens. That is not acting in good faith, but holding a proverbial gun to the head of tax payers.
The bottom line is this. There isn't enough money to meet these obligations. Sorry but true. It's not a matter of what is deserved, but a matter of what is right under the current set of financial circumstances. Consessions! Most Americans are making consessions, including cutting expense, reduced salary, and even unemployment.
The really bad part of this is that the poeple who initially negotiated these deals should have, or perhaps did, know that it was not sustainable. But putting the bill off for many years and another generation seemed quite painless at the time. Unfortunately, teachers, and other unionized groups, are having to pay the piper now.
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