Take a moment to reflect this Labor Day weekend about the holiday itself - how it started and what it means today for you and your family.
On September 5th 1882, the annual celebration of the labor movement in the United States began. It was born of a bloody and rancorous labor dispute, the Pullman strike, that left 13 dead, 57 wounded and, in today's dollars, more than $6.8 million in property damage.
From those early confrontations, few would dispute that the labor movement in the United States has helped deliver safer working conditions, higher wages and generous benefits.
Nevertheless, the union movement of today has dwindled in numbers. In 1982, more than 20% of the nation's workers were union members but, today, just a little more than 12% claim union membership, the same percent as we have in Maine.
Part of the decline is due to employers providing fair wages and safe workplaces. The other part of the equation is that unions have priced themselves out of the market by demanding more than the private sector is willing to pay. A global economy makes it cheaper to produce goods and services in places other than the United States. Millions of American jobs have gone overseas.
So where are unions thriving? The public sector.
Public sector employees in the U.S. are unionized at a rate of nearly 37% while unions in the private sector claim the dues of only 7.6% of those workers. It is not surprising then that salaries and benefits for public sector workers have outpaced those in the private sector. It's also not surprising that public sector employees also are among the most politically active.
The public sector is the one place a union can help elect the people with whom they will "negotiate" for their wages and benefits. But if you believe that the cost of government wages and benefits are too high, don't blame the unions - blame the "management" they helped get elected for cutting deals that have become unsustainable.
Then, look yourself in the mirror and ask: "Who am I electing to serve as "management"? Who am I sending to the Legislature, Congress, the Blaine House and the White House? Will they be good negotiators? Do they get it?"
Those elected as "management" in Maine are beginning to get the message that people are fed up with more taxes. The first vote on TABOR helped set the stage by drawing 46% of the vote for its proposed spending and tax caps. TABOR II on this November's ballot may get a majority. Then, the repeal of Maine's beverage and health care tax sent a strong message to Augusta from two-thirds of the voters that they are not in a spending mood. One of the outcomes of this voter angst has been some restraint from the Legislature and Governor Baldacci. For example, some state workers will begin paying for part of their health care premiums. Also, cuts in state spending will be paid for with furlough days, fewer state employees and reduced state services - for the moment.
This Labor Day weekend, be grateful for the historic advances delivered by the labor movement but also start doing your homework to understand who you want to be your "management" representatives in the public sector and then work to get them elected to the Legislature, the Blaine House and Congress.
A Vote For Individual Responsibility
While this recent letter to the editor of the Press Herald may prompt some thinking around the issue of health care funding, it also raises some fundamental questions about the role and responsibility of government and the rights and responsibilities that run with citizenship.
I oppose a public (government-run) option to health care reform. I do not view health care as a "right."
The rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence and enumerated in the Constitution are rights of opportunity. I need not take any material thing from any other person in order to exercise my right to free speech or to practice the religion of my choice. However, to make health care a "right" requires that you take from one person under the power of governmental force and give to another. I believe government-run health care to be immoral and tyrannical.
The federal government exists to do what the states and individuals cannot do for themselves. I cannot print my own legal tender, enter into treaties with foreign nations or fight wars. I can, however, work, save and provide for my and my family's health care.
The strength of our nation was built upon the principals of individualism and self-reliance. As the quotation goes: "A government that robs from Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul."
Well, I am not Paul. The more that you burden Peter with the responsibility of doing for Paul what he could and should be doing for himself, the weaker and more enslaved Peter becomes.
It is the strength and production of Peter that is the engine that drives our nation, not the dependency of Paul.
John Gardner
Bowdoin
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