Public employee unions are hardly the only group involved in bare-knuckles politics. Businesses lobby fiercely, and executives make hefty campaign donations.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Public unions are big money.
The unions claim the deck is stacked against them when it comes to labor laws, but the truth is many private and public sector workers are forced to pay union dues as a condition of their employment, yet they have little say in how the unions spend their money.
Public employee unions, in their defense, say politicians have unfairly made them into simplistic bogeymen, responsible for problems that have myriad causes. Not all government workers receive generous pensions, they note.
I really don't think that the public-sector employees should be unionized.
If I were the president of the United States, I would make unions illegal. They no longer serve a functional purpose in democracy, in my view.
Unions should not be lapdogs to a political party, they should be watchdogs for their members' interests.
It's an intolerable abuse of power to have employees who are supposed to be advancing the public interest actually working on political campaigns.
That's what unions do. They can get money, they can get support, they can get manpower.
There has been a huge attack against private sector unions. Actually, that's been going on since the Second World War.
Public employees contribute real value for the benefit of all citizens. Public-union bosses collect real money from all taxpayers for the benefit of a few.