Wages, Bennies, Yah. Don't Forget Da Rules!

AFSCME and a bunch of other State employee unions are scared.

Pickets, slowdowns and sickouts are all possible, said a memo from one disgruntled union faction. Marty Beil, head of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, said Walker wants to destroy the law underlying labor peace. "We certainly prefer negotiation to confrontation," he said.

That's the response to the "D"-Word: de-certification.

(And Marty: slow down and get sick all you like. You can be replaced. State "qualifications for hire" can easily be re-arranged, you know.)

It's well-understood that State employee unions have obtained very good wages and benefits. As P-Mac says, that's largely because State management (Governors and Leggies) were perfectly happy to allow it.

After all, it worked for the Big Three, right?

However, much cost of union labor is found in Da Rules. That's the part which allows someone to say "Not MY job!!" and walk away from a given activity. Or which allows someone to "slow-walk" that activity, or do it in the least efficient manner. Da Rules make "lean" practices impossible, and those practices are no small part of the success of Toyota, to name only one.

Da Rules are what allowed the state's prison guards to earn umpty-beaucoup bucks running their "sick/overtime" schemes. (And it's why the State is paying overtime to some workers while "furloughs" are in effect.)

There's plenty to do. And it can be done while some people are sick.