My Fix For Big Labour!

O.K., I may have said this before but for anyone new to reading this blog I just want to explain my theory on how to fix the problem with big labour.

First thing is we need to figure out that there is a problem to begin with, if our politicians can't figure this out then they need to be ousted.  Once we have decided we need to do something about the contracts signed with big labour then we need to make the changes to fix the problem.

$200 billion dollars, that is how much the federal government has in Unfunded Pension Liabilities going forward. That means there is no money set aside to pay for the pensions that are on the horizon.  This needs to be addressed now and not later.

First thing that needs to be looked at is something called "right to work legislation"  This simply implies that if you have a job in any sector be it private or public that you have the right to join the union or not.  This is being done in a lot of States right now and is proving out to be very successful, in fact it has made it possible for many states to show budget surpluses this year all the while the federal government is drowning in debt and on the verge of defaulting.

When you get a job, is it not a basic human right to decide whether you want to be represented by a labour group or not?  I mean this is a democratic country is it not?  If I were to go and get a job tomorrow as a welder at a local steel plant, why should I be forced to join a union?  Can I not keep my union dues and just go and do my job, that is all I want.  I do not feel my money should go to pay for a bunch of bureaucrats in the union so that they can get paid 24/7/365, even though the contract only expires every 3-4 years.  I want to be able to spend my $1000/year how I see fit, be it on my family, a vacation, whatever but I will have the right to do what I want with my own money.  I should not be forced to pay for something I do not believe in, that in my mind, is not democratic.

Now some will say without unions the labour pool will be taken advantage of by corporations, and to that I say we already have labour standard board that for on intents and purpose do the same thing that the unions do.  And if the worker feels something is wrong, the labour board is there to step in and represent the worker.

But what about negotiations?  You can't expect every person to negotiate their own contract?  No, I don't, but what I do think is very possible, is for the worker to vote for hiring a law firm to represent the group as a whole.  This is democratic and the law firm would only get paid during negotiations(other than a small yearly retainer).  The cost to the worker would be far less than what they pay in dues on a yearly basis meaning more take home pay.

The next step would to be to change pensions.  The worker needs to fund more of their own pensions, it is done this way by the private sector and is proven to be sustainable. Especially when it comes to the public sector, the taxpayers should not be on the hook for large pensions that you would not get in the private sector.  The public and private sector need to be more aligned on the pension and benefit front, what you get should not vary that much between the two.  With employees paying more into their pension it would alleviate the future liability that the country has and make sure that the pension is there for you when you do go to retire.

As you can see the worker is still represented, and more than likely represented better by a law firm than say some Joe who rose up through the ranks and does not know law at all.  This is a common sense approach to one of the problems facing our country.  I know that a final version of this would need some polish but I feel it is a great starting point and is a large step in the right direction.  If you agree, talk to your MP, MLA, council members, we need to make these changes for the whole of our country.