Last week, the Wall Street Journal gave AFL-CIO head Rich Trumka a column in which he attempted to explain why unions, particularly public unions, are good, completely justified and beyond criticism from taxpayers and politicians.
Today’s paper contains a number of responses. One clueless dolt said he agreed and that unions are more important than ever. The rest handed Trumka his head. It’s good to know that many Americans aren’t fooled by the jaded union disinformation campaign.
Here are my two favorites.
It is clear that Wisconsin teachers, while proclaiming the sanctity of collective bargaining, have no qualms in violating the terms of the very contracts they bargained for and ratified. Teacher contracts in both Madison and Milwaukee clearly prohibit the sick-outs and work stoppages we have seen.
Mr. Trumka cites the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to bolster his case. He doesn’t mention that Article 23 also states: “Everyone has a right to work.” And how about Article 20: “No one may be compelled to belong to an association.”
Thomas J. Moriarty Jr.
Burtonsville, Md.
After leaving a trail of destruction in the private sector (autos, steel, airlines, etc.), Richard Trumka and the AFL-CIO are now making a last stand in the public sector.
There is an inverse relationship between the size of a nation’s public sector and its prosperity and wealth. In fact, there is a credible argument to be made that actual and expected growth of government spending was a significant contributor to the U.S. recession and, so far, to the weak recovery. Societies that fixate on spreading wealth rather than building it generally end up spreading poverty.
Dave Glenn
Washington
