Your eyes on California Government

Steven Greenhut: Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed union-backed legislation that would promote the unionization of child care providers. If a kid receives public assistance, then the Service Employees International Union would get to organize workers, grab union dues and insert themselves more deeply into the home. This bill, promoted by former union organizer and current Assembly Speaker John Perez, is a reminder that the Democratic leadership is about nothing more than slowly and persistently trying to expand the power of their patrons, the public-employee unions.

Brown has been a mixed bag on union legislation. He vetoed a terrible totalitarian card-check law that would let union organizers intimidate farm workers into joining unions by eliminating the secret ballot. But he also signed legislation that would undermine local democracy by overruling local bans on union-only Project Labor Agreements. On the union child care bill, he was praised by conservatives.

This is from the “pro-family” SaveCalifornia.com: “This is a relief for many childcare providers — mothers, grandmothers, and others — who, for financial concerns or conscience reasons, do not wish to be forced to pay union dues. This money-grabbing proposal would have required childcare providers who care for kids receiving state subsidies to pay out more, thus raising costs for working parents, and ultimately raising the cost of state government.”

Here’s the text of the vetoed legislation. It’s scary stuff and a reminder that unions are always about force. They aren’t about choice or freedom. They want to use government to grant themselves special privileges and to keep out the competition. They are about increasing pay and protecting the worst workers among them. Unions can’t justify themselves in a competitive market. That’s why private sector unionization is fading away. Competition weeds out those companies that are hobbled by union work rules that are designed to protect lazy workers rather than improve efficiencies and appeal to the consumer. The union movement has become a government movement, given that there are no consumers, only subjects.

The governor is an ally of the unions and would no doubt disagree with everything I wrote in the above paragraph. But he is an adult (unlike many legislators) who understands some of the fiscal basics, as his veto message shows: “Today California, like the nation itself, is facing huge budget challenges. Given that reality, I am reluctant to embark on a program of this magnitude and potential cost.”

This veto is good news for the state and a reminder that Jerry Brown, whatever his many flaws, is all that’s standing between California and the abyss.

OCT. 6, 2011

Tags: Child Care, Jerry Brown, SEIU, Steven Greenhut, unions