Food For Thought

"Labor unions would have us believe that they transfer income from rich capitalists to poor workers. In fact, they mostly transfer income from the large number of non-union workers to a small number of relatively well-off union workers." - Robert E. Anderson


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Remedial Math

I was in the state capitol, Madison, yesterday, for a technology seminar. The seminar started late because a couple of the presenters couldn't make it around the Capitol Building due to the protesters. Who were these people and what were they protesting? They were WEAC and state workers protesting Governor Scott Walker's proposed state budget.

Governor Walker has to contend with a budget that does not balance. His proposal includes eliminating or cutting some (not all) benefits from some (not all) state workers. Why? In his own words, benefit cuts are better than job cuts.

Now, I realize that WEAC doesn't really care about teaching. I mean, let's face it, its a Union. If they're honest, themselves, they would admit that what they care about is their power, not the quality or content of the jobs those members perform (I'm not being flippant, here, I'm being serious -- ask yourself, "what's the mission of a Union").

So, in deference to this fact, I thought I'd take it upon myself to explain a little remedial mathematics in the form of a story problem. I'll even make it easier by making it "multiple guess".

Scotty has six friends and four apples. Each friend wants an apple. How many apples should Scotty give each friend?
A) 2/3 of an apple
B) 0, he should keep them all
C) Get rid of two friends and give each of the remaining four a whole apple

Hmmm. Well, let's show our work, for the benefit of the WEAC folks scratching their heads.

4 apples divided among 6 people = 4 / 6 = 2 / 3

So the answer is "A". But wait, that means no one gets a whole apple! Doesn't matter to WEAC and the Unions. All they care about is a whole apple. They don't care that Scotty can't get any more apples. Its immaterial that with the mathematically correct answer everyone stays a friend and everyone at least gets something. What matters to them is that no one's getting an entire apple! An apple they fought for and deserve, dammit! An apple they have a full right to!

But as they say, "follow the money". What's the meat of Governor Walker's proposal? It's actually not to take away benefits but to limit the Unions' negotiating power to salaries only. And that's what rankles the Union bosses, which brings us back to my point about the purpose of Unions. They don't care about the jobs that are performed, they care about the benefits. They don't care about the number of workers employed, they care that the workers that are employed get as much as they possibly can.

Once again, the Unions show where their sympathies lie -- with their power. They don't really care about their members and they don't care about their member's salaries. All they care about is keeping themselves in power by appearing to "fight" for things that can't be provided without bankrupting the state. Which, of course, they don't care about (despite several states already going bankrupt).

Back when I was in grade school, there was a local teacher's strike that garnered attention in the national media. The teachers said that they were striking for higher pay because "taxes are so high." Now, I was only in grade school, but I looked at my parents and asked, "But if they get higher pay, won't taxes go up again to pay for it?"

I know the math here is a bit difficult for those who grew up on "new math" and geography classes that taught how to balance a checkbook (true story), but maybe some of the students of WEAC's members can explain it to them.

Unfortunately, I doubt it.

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