Now What, How About Shining Some Light?

The past six to eight months have been a constant attack on public employees; it has been such a rough time in the various state legislatures that employees are feeling “shell shocked”.  Some are trying to figure out what happened, it seemed as if the attacks have been coming from all sides.  Those that have been around for awhile are having flashbacks to the early eighties and mid nineties; it seems as if we’re on a Merry Go Round that is never ending.  You find yourself wondering what’s next and asking now what do I do?

As far as the first question (what’s next?) we know, more of the same, many governors have said that they are going to continue until they accomplish what they started!  As for the second question (what do I do now?), I have a few ideas.

We (Public Employees) have spent the past six months on the defensive, the politicians (mostly Republican) were able to come at us with several pieces of legislation all at once, including some that they knew would take away our focus such as attacking payroll deduction for union dues.  Then while the employees’ representatives were focused on that, other legislation was submitted that could have more detrimental effects on employees.  Since politicians have declared war on the public employees, employees and their unions need to treat it like a war. 

Before anyone’s blood pressure pops I am not calling for violence, or conduct such as what took place in Wisconsin.  I thought what occurred in Wisconsin was a disgrace; it gave the impression that employees couldn’t make valid arguments against, or explain why what was being proposed was bad for the state and residents.  It allowed supporters of the proposed legislation to make the discussion about the behavior of the unions and keep it away from the facts.  Those legislators have run from the true facts like a cockroach scurries from the light.

Worse was the fact that it created another issue for others to have to defend against.  This leads me to my first suggestion.  Employees need to go on an educational blitz, say a topic a week or month, but first we need to shine light on what is being said.  This is going to take plenty of patience, there will be times that it may seem as if it is a waste, but eventually it will work.  Those legislators learned from the past, they knew that with the economy as bad as it is people are struggling, people are scared at not knowing how much worse things will get.  The legislators learned that after the initial shock wears off people will begin to look for someone to blame so rather than have them look at wasteful spending of the legislative body they’ll blame the public employees union and “extravagant” benefit packages.  This way they can keep the unions and employees from shining the light on mismanagement?  There are good and bad in everything, including employee unions, so when they (the politicians) talk about unions they generalize and create the perception that all are bad.  Now the union is defending itself against something it had nothing to do with, nor supported, such as the conduct in Wisconsin.

Employees need to point out that unions are as varied as the population and not all are affiliated with organizations such as the Teamsters, AFL-CIO, etc.  These organizations are not all bad, but they do have a negative stigma because of actions of the past.  Next we need to talk to the public about the negative pieces of legislation that are proposed.  We need to point out that we are suffering just the same as others, that we haven’t had cost of living raises in years while costs have increased.  We need to point out that we have suffered layoffs for years and have to do more with less.

We need to point out that the politicians aren’t being honest when they say the financial mess is because of the union contracts and the fact that the contracts can’t be “broken”.  We need to let the public know that the union agreements can be opened and renegotiated, the problem is that the politicians don’t want to do that because most have provisions that require a review of their (politicians) spending of tax dollars.  They don’t want light shown on their spending so they propose legislation to circumvent the process.

 The public also needs to be educated about union dues, or more specifically the laws pertaining to the use of monies for political purposes.  The public needs to be reminded of the earlier lesson about all unions not being affiliated with national organizations that have traditionally been democratic supporters.  Then the public needs to be informed that these dues proposals are not needed to protect employees because there are already laws that prevent a union member’ dues from being used for political purposes without the employee’s consent (another light on the politician).

 Next, and more importantly unions need to share with the public what is done with dues money.   That dues are used to provide legal assistance for employees when they are the subject of oppressive, unfair discipline, or are accused of misconduct and the legislative body refuses to provide assistance.  In that regard the union could also demonstrate the legal fees that have been recovered in the cases that the employee was not wronged, and the savings that the legislative body could have had if their attorney had represented the employee.  Then it should be demonstrated how dues monies are put back into the communities in the form of charity contributions, scholarship programs, etc.  In the case of law enforcement organizations explain the support for the families of officers disabled or killed in the Line of Duty, and the annual Law Enforcement Memorials (and maintaining those memorials).

I’ve saved the best for last; we need to educate the politicians.  We need to educate them on fiscal problems of the past and how when they or their predecessors finally worked with the employees instead of attacking them solutions were found that fixed the problem.  We need to show them that if they would only listen to the employees they could make real, meaningful, long lasting savings.

Last, and certainly not least, we need to educate politicians about perceptions.  Contrary to the perception not all public employees and union members are Democrats; we are Republicans, Independents, etc.  Many public employees I’ve spoken with are so disgusted that they are changing their party affiliation and leaving the Republican Party, some unions are even holding rallies to change party affiliations.  I believe a different tack will be a better approach, I was taught as a youngster that if you see something wrong you try to fix it, you don’t run away.  We should vote out the current politicians and elect those that will be fair, respectful, and honest with the employees and the public.  After all WE ARE ALSO THE PUBLIC, THE TAX PAYER!

The public shock and fear about the economy is wearing off, now the public will be more receptive to information as long as it is presented in a professional, informative, and more importantly positive manner.

That's My Opinion, What's Yours