Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
If they've taken too much, the problem is with the people who are giving it away. As with, e.g., defense contractors. Unions don't allocate a municipality's revenues -- they bargain for their share.
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Seriously, tho, the best union analog is the UAW at the big 3--a group that definitely was all about near-term profit maximization and defending work rules that harmed the enterprise, much like many (most? nearly all?) teacher's union locals. And both were negotiating "against" someone who was playing with other people's money, so it wasn't a real negotiation. And the latter is the problem with defense contractors, too, especially in the recent world of every ret. flag officer whoring himself out to the contractors.
On the police unions, (1) the politics are very different, and (2) the unions do get some of the blame sometimes, especially when a particular local spends too much time defending the blue mooks, blue crooks, and blue killers. But the leadership has generally gotten a little smarter about there PR needs in the past couple decades, so they are a little more able to walk that line.
