Erwin Chemerinsky
That might as well be the title of UC Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky's op-ed today in the Orange County Register.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/unions-633565-workers-union.html
One thing that Chemerinsky conveniently fails to mention is that the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (also known as Card Check) would take away the right of employees to vote by secret ballot on joining a union. Under Card Check, the employee would get a visit by Vinnie and Sluggo and "asked" to sign a paper in favor of unionization. Some free choice.
"The act would have allowed a union to be certified as the official bargaining entity with an employer if union officials collect signatures of a majority of workers."
Also, In the interest of full disclosure (which the Register did not do), there is a lead editorial in today's Register which quotes UCI labor law professor Catherine Fisk supporting the union move to raise the minimum wage for hamburger flippers to 15 dollars an hour. Not mentioned is the fact that Fisk is the wife of Chemerinsky.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fast-633568-food-union.html
To that I say why not make it 30 bucks an hour-or 50? It looks like the sky is the limit to these folks. Of course, we all know the result. People will lose jobs and/or the burgers will cost ten bucks. Eventually, businesses will fold because people won't pay inflated prices for their product. I guess the union types and academics never thought of that-if they even care.
"You're killing me, Erwin."
When I was a union bus driver, I started at $9.50 an hour, eventually working my way up the pay scale (as the pay scale itself rose over time) until I was making $13.04 an hour. As a single individual with no dependents, I could live well on that. For most of my fellow drivers, who did have children to support, $15 an hour would be a bare minimum, and that's considering they can now get tax credits so subsidize their children's health insurance. (Most of our premiums were covered by the employer under the union contract, but any dependents we paid full cost, which of course nobody can afford unless they get more like $20 or $30 an hour.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Gary's right... raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour, and THEN repeal the Affordable Care Act.
The Union Label -- the key to repealing Obamacare.