23 years ago I had an experience with a union that I will never forget. I was 18 years old and the experience did NOT impress me. First, a bit of background.
My dad was in a union in the early 60's. He worked for American Motors in Kenosha and had to join the union if he wanted the job. He told me that early on, unions served a very good purpose. They brought in workplace safety, fair wages and decent benefits. But as time went on, unions became more of a problem rather than the solution. Workers began to take advantage of the union benefits and started slacking at work. They would stop working 30+ minutes before the shift ended, then hang around and talk until they could punch out for the day. The supervisors were powerless to do anything because the union bosses stood behind the lazy workers.
Dad also told me how strikes could get ugly if companies tried to bring in temporary workers to get the job done while the employees were on strike. That's where my experience comes in.
As I said I was 18 years old. I was working three jobs, one full time and two part time. My second part time job was delivering a shopping advertiser one day a week on a rural route. About 3/4 of the way through my route was a concrete company. I dropped 5 papers every week for their office in a paper tube next to their mailbox. The workers for this company had went on strike. I was aware of this but didn't really think much of it.
On this particular Tuesday I could see about a dozen men picketing, carrying their signs as I pulled in the driveway. I went directly towards the mailbox as I always did, but I didn't get there. Before I could get to the mailbox, I had a few men step in front of my car, and when I stopped, the entire group surrounded my car and began hitting the roof and hood.
I knew what was going on so I grabbed a bundle of papers from the back seat and held it up to the drivers side window. One guy spotted it and called the other ones off. I got out and put the papers in the box and handed them a couple more. They were trying to be nice but I ignored them since they didn't take the time to ask first before they engaged in their bullying tactics.
This may sound stupid to some, but looking back I realize that I was lucky they were located where they were on my route. Had they been located at the end of my route, I wouldn't have had a bundle of papers to show them and had I only had a few papers in the car, I doubt they would have believed why I was there and it would have turned out very different.
At 41 years old, I would now handle that very differently. I would get out of my car and let em have it for being stupid, but at 18 years old, while I knew what was happening, I was scared. I may be 6'4", but there was one of me and a dozen of them.
I get it, I really do. They thought I was coming in to take one of their jobs. Fine, but what on earth is the harm in asking first? I was one person in a car. It's not like I was among a group of people walking towards their workplace. That would have been obvious.
The whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth regarding unions. Their actions that day were nothing but outright bullying. They had no business surrounding my car or laying a finger on it. And while they apparently felt bad about the incident, they didn't feel bad for trying to bully me, they felt bad because they were wrong about who I was.
Union members today get all offended when you dare use the word "thug" around them. Clearly that thug mentality was going on in the incident with me 23 years ago, and it is clearly going on this week in Madison. The liberal press keeps insisting it's all civil and peaceful, but there have been cases of people needing to be escorted between offices because of outright intimidation, and one case of the doors to the Senate chamber being blocked. That is NOT peaceful protesting. Voicing your opinion is one thing. That's a clear right in America. But trying to stop people from voting in the democratic process is NOT part of peaceful protesting.
What's unreal is they aren't even trying to hide it. We have our 14 senate democrats who have fled the state to prevent a vote from taking place. One the one hand, they say they are doing it to allow more time for those opposed to Governor Walker's proposal to be heard, yet they also say they will stay away as long as necessary, making it quite obvious they just want to prevent it from ever being voted on.
There are options. Under our state law, this requirement that at least 20 senators be present for a vote only refers to bills that have some fiscal component. Beyond that, a simple majority is all that is required to vote.
If it were me, I would write a separate bill that deals only with the collective bargaining issue and get that passed. Senate democrats would then have no reason to stay away any longer since the unions are now ready to offer concessions. Again, that's what I would do. I don't believe Governor Walker will do that which proves he's a better man than I am.
What little sympathy I have had for unions is drying up quickly. Madison schools were closed for a 3rd day this week as teachers have called in "sick" so they can go protest. Their job is to teach. So not only are they not doing the jobs they were hired to do, they are also disrupting the lives of the private sector workers who pay their salaries. Parents in Madison, Milwaukee, Watertown and other districts have had to take time off work or make other arrangements because of this unexpected school walkout. In my opinion, this is exactly why collective bargaining should be taken away. In the private sector, aka the real world, you get fired for pulling stunts like that.
As far as the rest of the unions, they have shown their true colors. They keep insisting that they are willing to sit down and talk but Governor Walker won't sit down with them. Let's review.
Shortly before Governor Walker took office, the unions, knowing this very thing was coming, tried to ram through an agreement but failed. Now that this has happened they are suddenly willing to talk. Governor Walker said no, and I hope he sticks to that. They had their opportunity and blew it.
The eyes of the nation are on Wisconsin, and while the liberal press is doing their level best to make our Governor out to be the bad guy, I believe the majority of Americans see this for what it really is, which is a bunch of spoiled children not wanting to pay their fair share.
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