Originally Posted by RichieLion

I am not anti-union.

The public sector unions problem has been that they don't want to have any of the problems of the private sector impact them, and people are taking notice. This is because the suffering public is paying for all the wage and benefits of the public employee while having less of these benefits themselves. The last thing the unions need is more animosity from the public directed at them, but that is the path they have chosen.

They should have agreed to givebacks from the beginning and maybe they could have negotiated the retention of their bargaining rights in good faith. The unions could have generated much good will this way. Then, if and when, the economy turned around, and their political backers were again in office, they could have had their benefits restored much easier than is done in the private sector.