Time to Ban Public Employee Labor Unions

Sure, it’s radical, but this article makes a pretty good case that public employee unions are not really unions at all. Instead:

They’re collusive cartels that use campaign donations, organized get-out-the-vote onslaughts and sometimes physical threats to literally buy the acquiescence of those with whom they should be “negotiating”. The politicians are supposed to be working for we the taxpayer. But we the taxpayer have no seat at the table between the public employee unions and their political benefactors.

These unions are particularly strong in New Mexico, a state with a bloated government workforce. Of course, that strength in numbers makes the unions even more powerful and abusive of their power. How else would you explain AFSCME’s recent, illegal use of the state’s email system, to bash Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez even though she has not campaigned on reducing the government work force.

In Albuquerque, government employee unions, this time for the police, are also mounting a public relations campaign to avoid layoffs among their membership. While some conservatives think no amount of police is enough, I find it hard to believe that significant cost-savings cannot be found by cutting back — or extending the number of years that must be worked before cops can retire with a generous public pension.

Banning public employee unions is unlikely to happen, but there is no need for them and the public/policymakers need to understand this and make decisions accordingly.