Pass bill reining in unions exploiting taxpayers

Louisiana seems prepared to forgo an opportunity to use better taxpayer dollars and to reduce privileging special interests.

Increasingly, states are reeling in the ability of public unions to squeeze the citizenry and leverage those resources to increase their political power. A number recently have passed legislation to prohibit deducting dues automatically for employees, whether union members, within the bargaining unit, giving paid time off to perform union business, preventing withholding dues – locals can deduct from non-members in many states unless they specifically designate disallow that outside of infrequent windows – and to require more than a small portion of the bargaining unit to specifically approve of recertification of certification is revoked.

But Louisiana remains stuck in the past. SB 312 by Republican state Sen. Kirk Talbot, addressing parish (except public safety personnel) and school district employees, sought to prohibit collected dues from being used for political purposes, to have salary deductions renewed automatically, and to transfer government administrative costs to the union. All of these were amended out.

What’s left isn’t worthless. Now in the House, the bill’s current version, even as only a small proportion in the bargaining until still can trigger deductions for all, would let employees withdraw from that at any time. And, at hiring and annually, the union would have to inform all employees they have the right not to suffer the withdrawals. Employees need to be made aware constantly that they don’t have to surrender part of their paycheck to an organization that doesn’t represent them politically.

There’s no good reason for public unions to use public funds to solicit more public funds and cost taxpayers still more, for even as the checkoffs are from salary they have two negative impacts: essentially reducing a salary that makes the jurisdiction raise salaries to remain competitive and taking public dollars and letting unions use these to lobby for higher salaries and other causes with which payers may not agree, especially in funneling campaign assistance to friendly lawmakers willing to dip deeper into the people’s wallets in gaining election. The more they can take, the more they can use on behalf of those bought legislators, and the more subsequently they get. The merry-go-round never stops with unions becoming richer at citizens’ expense.

Representatives would do well to emulate other states by returning to the law the portions amended out, but even the watered-down bill makes some headway against the shell game unions play at taxpayer expense and must be passed even if left in reduced form.