75-04-B4
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Private Government[edit]
Transcript[edit]The United States may soon be in danger of surrendering to a private government. I'll be right back. The bill was submitted in the House of Representatives on January 14th. It's designated House Resolution 77. Its language is deceptively simple almost innocuous. Quote, "Being enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives that paragraph two of section two of the National Labor Relations Act is amended by striking out the words, 'or any state or political subdivision thereof.'" Unquote. Removal of those seven words translates into full unionization for more than 10 million government employees. This means the right to strike, the right to divert involuntary union dues to political purposes, the right to extract major concessions from state and local governments and the right to dictate public policy to the office holders you elect potentially at least. It means the establishment of a sort of private government that can exercise political power by right of monopoly at the bargaining table. One of the main arguments advanced by supporters of public unions is that public employees should be granted rights already possessed by private sector employees but this really misses the point the ranking minority member on the Labor Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee. Congressman John Ashbrook of Ohio put it this way, quote, "Public employers do not operate on a profit motive. They are government agencies created by statute with legally mandated functions to perform on behalf of the general public. Unlike the private sector most governmental agencies are monopolistic since they're the only source for the services they provide. Government agencies are not confronted with a restraining hand of competition." Unquote. The difference is clear. If a strike prevents General Motors from making automobiles, Ford, Chrysler and American Motors are still producing. Even if all three were closed at once there's no immediate threat to the public welfare and new cars remain in dealer showrooms and in the distribution pipeline. Even if these run out, used cars are available. But you can't look in the Yellow Pages for a competitor to the police and fire departments if they go on strike. There's no company which provides thousands of temporary teachers or hospital workers or to find a delayed benefit check for a blind or disabled person almost any government strike is a public emergency and often it constitutes a real danger to public health and safety. Consider what this grant of overwhelming power to labor unions would mean in terms of public policy. A teachers union may decide that it wants as part of its contract total control over curriculum and textbook selection at your local high school. If teachers had the legal right to strike and ready access to government-paid unemployment benefits to help them prolong the strike, parents, taxpayers and the school board would have a choice between union-dictated education for their children or none at all. Under those circumstances what could the school board possibly decide well? That's what I mean about private government. The National Labor Relations Act, whatever its merits or demerits, was written for the private labor market where competition is the rule and monopoly is rare. It wasn't intended to make our public servants into our masters. If you feel strongly about this issue I hope you'll make your voice heard. Write to your Congressman and United States Senator. Urge them to oppose House Resolution 77, the bill that would bring employees of state and local government under the National Labor Relations Act. Whether we will have government of, for and by the people, hangs in the balance. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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