Originally Posted by
buzzpat
And my grandfather, my father, and I were all commissioned officers in the military....no union. My point is this, for every tax dollar an American pays to the federal, state or local government is one less dollar of discretionary income they have to purchase an airline ticket. Conversely, government employees, like military servicemen and women, "serve." Corporations, like ours, produce a commodity. If customers can't purchase a commodity, we perish.
The government hires servants, corporations hire employees. Never once in my 20 years in the military did I expect a union to represent me. I signed up to serve. Now, living in California, I have no interest in paying any more of my 10% of state income tax to fund any more incompetency or continue to add to an already bankrupt state.
The governor of Wisconsin, whether Republican or not, is right on. You can't write checks you can't cash. We, in the legacy airlines, have certainly bitten the bullet over the last 8 or nine years, while state government employees have seen a 28% increase in income (in CA, for example). This is not a left vs. right thing, this is a fiscally-responsible thing. God bless your parents and their service to Chicago and Illinois. Presently, I'm worried about my job at Delta, my children and their future. Color me a little bit uncertain, but I'm not hanging my future, or theirs, on our union or anything.
Nothing personal New. I just beg to differ.
Buzz,
Nothing personal at all. I still owe you a beer?
Discussion:
State government employees don't "serve" like you and your family did. (My thanks to you all.) They don't take an oath, they aren't elected, and they don't have to defend and protect the Constitution. Just like Boeing Corporation, and their military contracts, teachers are private citizens who are providing a "service" to the state. That service has a cost associated with it, just like any other program.*
(*In this case, the providers of the service have already agreed to a reduction in the cost --everything the governor asked for. So, what does having a public service union or a teachers union have to do with bankrupting the state?)
States are very much like corporations, too. Just think of the citizens of Wisconsin as members of the Wisconsin Frequent Flyers Program. If the Governor now and his successors can't work it out, the state will perish just as surely as any airline would, as the frequent flyer members will leave and go to other airlines. People moved to California in droves because of all the great programs. But, now that taxes are on their way up, people will leave. It happens all the time.
Private sector unions and public sector unions do the same thing. Their union doesn't do anything different than our union does. So, if the teachers press too hard, the state has to raise taxes, people move, and there is less need for teachers. So, why is it that a teacher, who is a private citizen, who is a professional, just as we are private citizens and professionals, any less deserving of union representation than we are?
New K Now