Frequent FR readers are well aware of my views about SEIU, but I am in the mood for venting today, so here goes. It drives me nuts when I read quotes by state workers saying they are being used as "pawns," or that the Governor is "balancing the budget on the backs of state workers."

These are absolutely ludicrous statements.

It is as if the people who make these statements are in denial of the fact that they are members of one of the biggest and most powerful unions in the country—SEIU.  The same SEIU that was a top political contributor to California Democrats last year, and that regularly strong-arms Democrat legislators on everything from appointments to bills to the budget.  And more importantly, the same SEIU whose leadership has made drastic measures like furloughs and minimum wage necessary because of their refusal to make any compromises.

Compare SEIU to the National Federation of Independent Business. The NFIB is comprised of small business owners who run businesses, meet overhead, comply with labor laws, and pay taxes. Their bottom is line is the private sector. In addition to this they spend some time (too little) in Sacramento lobbying for business interests, but this is a secondary function.

SEIU 1000, on the other hand, is a creation of Sacramento with its own agenda.  Its only bottom line is public sector funding, or in other words government spending. Its members are therefore inherently political and should not be running around to the press portraying themselves as innocent bystanders in Sacramento’s debates.

So stop with the "pawns" and "state workers’ backs" lingo and either elect new leaders or leave the union.

We are in a recession, which means tough times for everyone. If your SEIU bosses are telling you that by sticking together and refusing to come to the table then public employees can be "recession proof" — that just isn’t true.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.