4 ms·

> the unionized elite? That's some really weird world view you got there.

CryptoPunk 5y ago
* The pay gap between public sector workers and private sector workers continues to grow. Many public sector workers are now in the top 10% of income earners, and they number in the millions. Their political power is also greater than the sum of their wealth, because of their numbers. Each one has enough financial interest in the unions' agenda succeeding to potentially engage in PR/lobbying for that cause. Thus they have the critical mass of supporters to shape narratives. Seeing kids talk about how much they hate Trump - something they learned from their unionized teachers - drives that home. * Pensions for public sector workers are bankrupting states, yet there is no political force capable of scaling them back. The kind of job security they gain through their collective bargaining agreement is also degrading the quality of the public service, in public education: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/111/3/671/1839935?login=true https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/111/3/671/1839935?login... And policing: https://academic.oup.com/jleo/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jleo/ewaa025/6054285 https://academic.oup.com/jleo/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jl... And every other public sector. The inexorable rise of social spending stems from the growing power of public sector unions: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/social-spending-oecd-longrun https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/social-spending-oecd-long... The work forces of media outlets have their own guilds, e.g.: https://nytimesguild.org/ https://nytimesguild.org/ Which combined with left-wing labor laws, means they receive the benefit of barriers to competition from other workers who may want their jobs. Thus they have a financial conflict of interest in how they cover the news, to favor the left-wing political narratives over anything favorable to the concept of a free market and contract rights.
- ineedasername 5y ago
  Public sector jobs on average pay over 10% less than comparable private sector jobs, and even unions don't fully eliminate that pay gap. [0] You're cherry picking specific jobs & unions to paint a false narrative: Police & teachers' unions don't tell the whole story. Barriers to competition is a separate topic and worthy of discussion, but on the issue of overall pay rates relative to private sector workers you are simply wrong. [0] https://www.epi.org/publication/unions-public-sector-pay-gap/#:~:text=Pay%20gap%20is%20the%20difference,and%20year%20using%20regression%20analysis https://www.epi.org/publication/unions-public-sector-pay-gap....
  - CryptoPunk 5y ago
    The EPI is a mouthpiece for unions. It's heavily funded by public sector unions. Nothing that comes from them is credible. The fact is an increasing proportion of top 10% income earners are unionized public sector workers, and the pay gap between public sector and private sector workers has indeed increased. Look at the gap between federal and private workers for example: https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-bulletin/federal-pay-outpaces-private-sector-pay https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-bulletin/federal-pay-outpace...

* The pay gap between public sector workers and private sector workers continues to grow. Many public sector workers are now in the top 10% of income earners, and they number in the millions. Their political power is also greater than the sum of their wealth, because of their numbers. Each one has enough financial interest in the unions' agenda succeeding to potentially engage in PR/lobbying for that cause. Thus they have the critical mass of supporters to shape narratives. Seeing kids talk about how much they hate Trump - something they learned from their unionized teachers - drives that home. * Pensions for public sector workers are bankrupting states, yet there is no political force capable of scaling them back. The kind of job security they gain through their collective bargaining agreement is also degrading the quality of the public service, in public education: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/111/3/671/1839935?login=true https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/111/3/671/1839935?login... And policing: https://academic.oup.com/jleo/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jleo/ewaa025/6054285 https://academic.oup.com/jleo/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jl... And every other public sector. The inexorable rise of social spending stems from the growing power of public sector unions: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/social-spending-oecd-longrun https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/social-spending-oecd-long... The work forces of media outlets have their own guilds, e.g.: https://nytimesguild.org/ https://nytimesguild.org/ Which combined with left-wing labor laws, means they receive the benefit of barriers to competition from other workers who may want their jobs. Thus they have a financial conflict of interest in how they cover the news, to favor the left-wing political narratives over anything favorable to the concept of a free market and contract rights.

ineedasername 5y ago
Public sector jobs on average pay over 10% less than comparable private sector jobs, and even unions don't fully eliminate that pay gap. [0] You're cherry picking specific jobs & unions to paint a false narrative: Police & teachers' unions don't tell the whole story. Barriers to competition is a separate topic and worthy of discussion, but on the issue of overall pay rates relative to private sector workers you are simply wrong. [0] https://www.epi.org/publication/unions-public-sector-pay-gap/#:~:text=Pay%20gap%20is%20the%20difference,and%20year%20using%20regression%20analysis https://www.epi.org/publication/unions-public-sector-pay-gap....
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  The EPI is a mouthpiece for unions. It's heavily funded by public sector unions. Nothing that comes from them is credible. The fact is an increasing proportion of top 10% income earners are unionized public sector workers, and the pay gap between public sector and private sector workers has indeed increased. Look at the gap between federal and private workers for example: https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-bulletin/federal-pay-outpaces-private-sector-pay https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-bulletin/federal-pay-outpace...