Union bosses love to talk about labor solidarity. When it comes to public work, though, public sector unions would rather keep it all for themselves.
New York: Union Bosses Say the Quiet Part Out Loud
This spring, New York's Legislature passed a bill that would block state agencies from bringing in outside help during a hiring freeze for any work a unionized state employee would otherwise do. The Public Employees Federation is now pushing Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign it.
PEF's letter campaign is pretty upfront about the goal. It objects to the state "hiring non-unionized workers" and argues that no taxpayer money "should be expended to hire expensive outside contractors at all."
The Business Council of New York State noticed something PEF left out: "infrastructure projects rely heavily on union labor." In other words, the bill could hurt the union tradespeople who build New York's roads and bridges. The Council also warns it would slow down permits, licenses and IT upgrades.
The strangest part? New York isn't under a hiring freeze right now and hasn't been since 2021. The bill is really a rule for the next budget crisis, which is exactly when the state will need room to bring in help.
Michigan: The Jobs Are Already in the Private Sector
SEIU 517M has criticized Michigan for relying on private consultants to design and inspect roads instead of hiring full time employees. According to MDOT, open jobs are hard to recruit for and fill, even after a 20% raise, because private companies pay more.
But the union wants that work brought back in-house. If the union gets its way, the private engineers and inspectors already doing those jobs are the ones who lose out on their livelihoods. And without those workers, Michiganders suffer from the bottleneck of slow progress.
Which Workers?
New York and Michigan are running the same play. Every job union bosses pull away from a private firm becomes another state employee paying dues, and that money flows straight into union boss’s pockets and political war chests. Taxpayers cover the salaries and the pensions. What they don't get is faster roads, quicker permits or better service in return.
So when union bosses say they're protecting workers, lawmakers should ask them which ones.
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