But government employee unions are not so high on our list. They are primarily functions of political processes, not economic ones.
Public-employee unions do not compete with anyone in the marketplace. Their value and cost cannot be measured as a function of the marketplace.
Unlike private-sector unions, which negotiate with business men and women invested in their companies’ futures, public-employee unions’ “adversaries” on the other side of the table are elected officials, who have no hesitation giving the people’s money away in exchange for votes and contributions.
Hence it is no surprise that the strongest lobbies today in Sacramento are public-employee unions.
To see what’s going on here, we don’t need to go to taxpayers associations and other related groups who rant about these things. A visit to the correctional officers association’s own website offers open evidence of the influence they have with the people they are negotiating with.
“Of the 107 candidates endorsed by CCPOA this (past) election, 104 were victorious.” Or as union president Mike Jimenez says, “We’ve had a long-term relationship with (Gov.) Jerry Brown.”
What does that mean? For one thing, it means that of the $7 million that CCPOA contributed in last fall’s election, $2 million went to Jerry Brown.
Pretty nice pay off, big return for a lifetime of anti-democratic activity from the Dills Act. Jerry Browns entire career built around the principle of extracting political cash from taxpayers behind closed doors. I do not see how taxpayers can morally be expected to pay for this.
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