Can You Trust Unions?

A labor union is an organization of workers joined together to achieve goals in the workplace. Usually the goals include negotiating wages, benefits, and working conditions. A union negotiates contracts and conditions with employers for employees. Most unions claim a right to admit or deny membership to potential union members based on factors such as worker status and their type of trade or skill. Now Obama wants to drop the secret ballot when unions try to get members to join. This gives even more power to the unions.

In the beginning of the labor movement, workers needed these protections. However, as unions grew in numbers and in power, they also grew in corruption. This goes hand-in-hand with power. Power corrupts. As a result, pension funds become targets for theft.

Unions exploded in the United States during the 19th century with the founding of the National Labor Union in 1866. Although this union failed, its founding was an important precedent. Several unions followed and one of the most successful was the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1886, and today it's SEIU (Service Employees International Union with several million members).

Today, unions serve the same purposes for which they were originally founded. They have however, out-lived their usefulness. As they became more and more powerful, their demands became more and more demanding, as well. This is one of the main reasons why the states and the federal government are in such awful financial predicaments.

For example, the UAW (United Auto Workers) have priced themselves out of the market. Auto manufacturers have to price their cars extremely high just to cover wages and fringe benefits - namely healthcare and retirements for the workers. Their wages have out-paced world competition. Foreign cars are cheaper because they are not produced by unions.

Unions also have a negative impact in other areas. For example the National Education Association (NEA) is responsible for the dumming-down of America by imposing political correctness into textbooks and by re-writing America history with a Progressive twist. They have succeeded so well that even the people in Minnisota don't blink when they have a US Senate race won (Al Frankin) by more votes than they have registered voters. No warning lights went off when that Senate race recounts were being funded by George Soros either.

So why is it when Obama appoints Andy Stern (President of SEIU-the largest union) to head his government panel on deficit reductions, there are no warning flags? Is this guy even qualified? What are the motives for this nomination? Are they in the interests of the American public? Hardly!