This is one area I won't step into, except to say that I won't step into it. There are points to be made for both sides of every story, and this one is no different.
One a personal note though, I will say that when the public sector (union and non-union alike) gets better pensions and health care than the people that are actually paying for it (the taxpayers) then I think it's time to at the very least revisit everything.
And having been on both sides of the negotiation table. let me also say that a contract is exactly that. A contract. It has set items in it, and if those items are met by both sides, then everyone is following the law and no one should be squawking...
But everyone also needs to remember that a labor contract has a set time limit to it...be it one year or 3 years or five or whatever.. once that time limit is done, ...once all provisions of that contract have been met... the contract is OVER. Period!! All items that were in it can legally be renegoatiated, dropped, raised or adjusted up or down or be modified. Either side can legally refuse to renegotiate with the opposing side until forced to do so by the courts.
In most contracts you'll usually find a clause that says something to the effect that all previous benefits of the previous contract are carried over into the new contract without renegotiation...but that clause is just there to make rewriting and renegotiating a new contract easier for the ones doing it.. it's NOT a piece of ironclad boilerplate. It can be removed by either party in a new contract negotiation. All items can legally be up on the table again.
As an example, lets say that the last contract gave workers 10 paid holidays per year. Normally that would be carried over into the new contract automatically with that aforementioned clause. But without that clause management can legally say they do not want to give 10 days for the new contract, they only offer 5. So now it's open to negotiation again. Every single items in a contract can be open to renegotiation, including salery, pensions, holidays, healthcare, etc. nothing is automatic, nothing is sacred, nothing is guarenteed. Just something to think about.
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1987 V20 w/1987 150HP Yamaha on a Shoreland'r Trailer
1978 16.5 Airslot w/1996 120HP Force on a Four Winns trailer
1996 V21 w/1993 200HP Mercury on a Shoreline Trailer
All towed by a 5.7L Hemi Durango.
If God didn't have a purpose for us we wouldn't be here, so
Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly.
(Leave the rest to God)
Silence, in the face of evil, is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act. God will not hold us guiltless.