> So politicians cave to large organized groups who can cause them problems and effect their ability to be elected? That's not what I said? I said the general

> So politicians cave to large organized groups who can cause them problems and effect their ability to be elected? That's not what I said? I said the general public (who are unorganized) have a great deal of deference for police officers, and the power of police unions is merely a consequence of the public's deference to police. > How is that a surprise, of course politicians give public sector unions what they want -- they hold the cards, a huge voting block and cause problems. It's not a huge voting block. Union membership is much lower now than it was, say, 50 years ago. Moreover, politicians don't give public sector unions what they want. Here in Wisconsin, the state legislature stripped public employee unions of collective bargaining rights. There were massive protests at the state capitol about this, but in the end it didn't matter. Afterward there was recall campaign and election against the Governor, but the Governor won the recall election. It feels to me like many people still have a 1960s conception of labor unions and their power, but empirically speaking, labor unions have been on the decline for decades, perhaps starting with the Reagan years. Now is not the Jimmy Hoffa era anymore.