The Real Reason Public Employee Unions Are On The Defensive | California Progress Report

The Real Reason Public Employee Unions Are On The Defensive | California Progress Report

The Real Reason Public Employee Unions Are On The Defensive

by christine

By Robert Cruickshank
In Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle, Peter Scheer of the First Amendment Coalitionblames public employee unions themselves for the defensive position they undeniably find themselves in right now. Scheer's argument is a mixture of right-wing claims that it's somehow wrong for people to be paid well and a more interesting claim that unions brought these problems upon themselves by not cultivating enough public support.
The main problem with this argument is that it totally ignores the role of the right-wing, corporate union-busting machine in systematically undermining unions, especially public sector unions. Leaving that crucial piece of the story out of the op-ed makes Scheer's argument much weaker.
Scheer starts by uncritically repeating the argument that public sector unions are overpaid:
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