To the Beloit Daily News:
I see a fundamental difference in public vs. private unions.
Private unions negotiate with private businesses to reach an agreement as to wages and benefits. The private business has reason to want to limit both to maximize profits.
Public unions negotiate with the government to reach an agreement in a similar matter - but their actual employers are the people of Wisconsin in this case, who have no say in those negotiations except to elect representatives and a Governor who are expected to act in the best interests of the people of Wisconsin.
The people of Wisconsin have sent a strong message to those representatives in the last election, that they want the current system of public unions being able to make demands of the public to end. The unions, understandably, are not happy with this decision. None the less, the people have spoken.
Perhaps we could resolve the issue of unionized teachers this way. Fire them all, and hire replacements from the thousands of qualified unemployed college graduates in the state. Offer them a five-year contract at 1/2 the current wage of the union teachers they replace. Perform regular performance evaluations. Fire them if students do not learn in their classes, give them raises if they do a good job. This will benefit the people of the state by immediately reducing the costs of education, and relieve much of the current unemployment.
If the replaced teachers want to re-apply as non-union teachers, they could, after one year of unemployment - so that they understand the plight of too many of their neighbors who currently pay for all their benefits.
A public job is a privilege, not a right.
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Stole part of the solution from BMEWS. We shall see if it gets printed.
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