Union and Labor Organizations Lay Siege to the Massachusetts Capitol

Well, not really.

But that is the headline you would have expected to read given the actions and the media coverage that took place when Wisconsin moved to revoke some collective bargaining rights, why wouldn't the same thing happen in Massachusetts? Because Massachusetts is union strong and would never do such a thing? Wrong!

Union Busting, Massachusetts Style

Pop quiz: What political party, in what state, this week passed a bill in the dead of night stripping public-sector unions of their collective- bargaining powers? Republicans in Wisconsin? The GOP in Ohio or Indiana?

Try Democrats in Massachusetts. Maybe the debate over public-sector benefits isn't all that ideological after all.

Where are the banging drums? Where is the overnight occupation of the capitol building? Why aren't union thugs physically blocking lawmakers from entering the premises to vote?

There are none. The unions are stunned. This is not how the corrupt system of collective bargaining is supposed to work! Especially not in true blue Massachusetts!

Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, was so irked he forgot to stick to the union script about "rights" and a "war" on the "middle class." He skipped to the real outrage—that the 81 Democrats who voted for the bill were failing to play by the political rules. "These are the same Democrats that all these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed to in their campaigns," he complained. The unions would fight this to the "bitter end," he vowed. "Massachusetts is not the place that takes collective bargaining away from public employees."

The system where unions collect dues from employees (against their will if necessary) and then hand that money to politicians who in return strengthen the unions position and funnel more tax payer money to the unions is a vicious circle of corruption. But like most criminals their greed knows no bounds and they have negotiated themselves agreements that the tax base can no longer afford. They are willing to kill the goose that lays their golden eggs.

Municipal health costs have as a result averaged near 11% growth annually—for a decade. The average premium is today 37% higher than in the private sector, and one-third higher than premiums for federal plans. The numbers have so exploded that personnel costs—salaries and benefits—are now eating up an astonishing 75% of local Massachusetts budgets.

So where are the SEIU and AFL-CIO armies? Where is the siege of the capitol and the intimidation of local businesses to support the unions? Why didn't the Democratically controlled State House members run away from themselves and take refuge in nearby New Hampshire or Rhode Island?

Wisconsin moved to rein in collective bargaining powers that are crushing the state. Massachusetts moved to rein in collective bargaining powers that are crushing the state. The only difference is that Democrats have chosen to portray Mr. Walker's legislation as "union-busting" while presenting their own as necessary reform.

Now, everybody act surprised!