Unions May Be Dumb

But Management is Dumber.

Now, knowing a little bit about Unions in the US and union organizing, it's my feeling that if you're against collective bargaining you're seriously a sad sack of kitten meat.
What's the matter? You can't handle collective bargaining? Why not? Did your mommy tell you not to collectively bargain?
As an employer, I recognize that you're just an idiot.
Look, I'll be more than happy to complain about unions. No, I don't think unions should be automatically certified based on a card-count rather than an election. Go ahead and elect the union to be your bargaining agent in a secret ballot. If you're a union organizer and you can't win an election then you're just a panty-waist.
And if you're an employer and you can't sit down with a union rep to negotiate a contract then you're some freeze-dried pussy whip too.
So why shouldn't public employees be granted collective bargaining? Answer: because you're stupid. And incompetent.

A few years ago when the MTA workers went on strike I thought it was unquestionably dumb of them. They had in their previous agreement insisted on getting binding arbitration in their agreement. That, on the face of it, is more than fair. But for whatever bing-bong reason they decided they would strike the next time contract negotiations came up rather than using the binding arbitrator. What's up with that? That's just a union being dumb. Go ahead and show me the numbers but I can't imagine that the members of that union have made the money back that they spent striking for... nothing.

Employers are perfectly willing and able to force strikes where they're completely without merit too. Just look at the Broadway Producers' League and the silly givebacks they tried to get from the IATSE a few years ago. To what end did they let their theaters be closed for (I don't remember exactly and I'm too lazy to look it up) two weeks? So that some poor schlub who mops the floors between the matinée and evening shows gets overtime for working through dinner? What is that? The cost of one ticket per night? Half a ticket? Gimme a break.

If you want me to complain about a union I will. But I assure you with 100% accuracy that if a trade union is being cranky it's ultimately the fault of bad Management. Let's go back to the MTA. The workers hate their management. Why? Because the management of the MTA is just silly. And they act like dicks to their workers. So then the employees in the bargaining unit get all pissy -- and end up striking over malarkey.

There. I'm glad I got that off my chest.