As a soldier I have a very special take on public sector unions.
Once the War for Independence was won Congress had a problem, they couldn't pay the Army a few years of back pay. So they simply put the whole Army on furlough save 40 Artillerymen and never called the rest back. In the Great Depression when WWI vets were attacked by their active duty comrades in the "Bonus March Riots."
My paycheck comes from the taxpayers (although more likely from China). If the public doesn't pay me then I don't have a job working for the public. I could not be like the Revolutionary War soldier who could go two years without pay, my family would starve while I was playing soldier. So if the time comes when a Reduction In Force (RIF) sends me packing then so be it, I'll find some job somewhere. I've been a janitor and know that I can at least fall back on that.
Soldiers don't have collective bargaining rights, nor should we. But neither should Police, Firefighters, or EMTs. In the end the only people who put anything into the economy are farmers and miners. Everyone else simply adds value to base products. I know my place in the economic scale of things and have no right to demand more than is in my contract that I signed with my own hand of my own free will.
About Me
- AM
- Raised by conservative Christian parents, enlisted in the Army at 18, used the GI Bill to finish college, and I'm back in the Army. Along the way I've encountered a huge cast of characters, some I got into trouble with, some that passed on skills that have helped me on my life journey.
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3 comments:
I'd love to see an Enlisted Man's Union! Here is the beginning of my Demand List for a Junior Enlisted Union!
No Field Day
No Range Runs
No Formations Longer Than 15 Minutes
Massive Increase In Liquor Ration
Motorcycle Issued Upon Graduation Of Basic Training
No Senior NCO's Yelling At Us
And thats just the beginning!
I really like your site. I plan on checking back. Cept maybe this post lol im a fireman...and in the union. That's ok...well just have to disagreeon this one post and move on. I know...a union member and a threeper *gasp* its a tough fence to ride...its always wiggling.
brian,
The first order of business for any organization is the continuation of that organization.
There are both public and private EMT and ambulance services, and I'm not saying that the public sector firemen should go away.
But I am saying that Public sector unions that don't have to compete with the private sector for taxpayer money are inherently not in the best interest of the taxpayer. Allowing private companies to contract services to municipal districts would save taxpayers a lot of money.
I struggle with the same issues as a Soldier, I don't have collective bargaining rights but every time Congress starts cutting benefits a bunch of Veterans and Servicemember organizations start raising bloody hell.
But that doesn't change the fact that the numbers haven't added up in a long time, and in the end the numbers are all that matter.
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