Pam Gencarella: Is the Pendulum Swinging Back Toward the Center?
Thursday, October 02, 2014
So we’ll ask you. Do the Clay Pell, Taveras, and “anyone but McKee” losses say anything about the shifting power of public unions or does it just support the theory that they all really need to stick together to win?
It is well known that Clay Pell was the RI National Education Association (NEARI) endorsed candidate for governor in the recent Democratic primary and many other state and municipal public unions endorsed Taveras.
Just before the primary this season - on talk radio - a few public union members voiced their disdain for the thought that they would blindly vote for the union endorsed candidates. One said that she was not voting for Pell because she had independently determined Pell was not the best candidate for the state as a whole. Another said she would not vote for Mollis for Lt. Governor simply because the unions stood on an “anyone but McKee” platform. In the end, Pell and Taveras lost and McKee won - all three, losses for the public unions.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhen an MSNBC host recently asked Randi Weingarten, president of the national American Federation for Teachers (AFT), if Pell’s loss in RI had any meaning, she completely evaded the question. Randi, speechless?
In the 2012 election cycle, Woonsocket residents pushed back when it came to putting another public union member in the State House. State Representative Casey, a firefighter who narrowly beat Jon Brien in the primary and who had no opponent in the general election, came away with 2,749 votes. However, another 1,230 Woonsocket voters took the time to write-in other candidates. Is that any indication?
This November’s Elections May be Telling
In Coventry this year, residents who had been severely impacted by the floundering Central Coventry Fire District stood up and said they were not going to take it anymore. They walked up to the State House and asked for their representatives to deliver them from the clutches of the public union, to let them take back their fire district and run it as they saw fit, you know, like in a democracy. While their courage was commendable, it was not to be. But that doesn’t mean they will let sleeping dogs lie. In November, they will make a choice between the representatives and senators that protected the public union, and the candidates that provide for an alternative to the historical support of public unions. The Coventry races will be an indication as to where the public leans when it comes to the Orwellian idea that some middle class workers are more equal than others.
Then there is the recent rejection of the Providence teachers’ contract. The president of the teachers’ union stated they had concerns about a new performance based compensation policy (as opposed to the current compensation policy based on the number of years on the job) and a provision that would allow principals to request more control over hiring and curriculum. Hmm, imagine an organization or company wanting the ability to determine how they incentivize employees to improve performance and reward those that do, or an organization that wants the ability to make human resource decisions that will ultimately lead to an improved product, in this case, a better educated student. In the private sector, you don’t have to imagine it because that’s how it’s done.
Whether you support the concept of public unions or not, you must agree that the pendulum seems to have swung too far. Otherwise, why would a bankrupt fire district, with no plan other than to tax its already over-taxed citizens even more, be allowed to continue in existence when there is a perfectly viable alternative? Why would independent day care centers be legislatively allowed to unionize and collectively bargain with the state, simply because they receive state subsidies for children from qualifying families (which, by the way, subsequently was declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court)? And why would a state legislature provide a law that says teachers should not be evaluated annually like every other professional worker in the private sector?
Losing the Seat Doesn’t Mean Losing the Power
The Executive Branch does more than occupy a seat in one of the three branches of government. It wields significant power because it also makes appointments to numerous commissions and boards and regulatory and oversight bodies. Take education: the Commissioner of Education serves at the pleasure of the Education Board (whose members are appointed by the Governor). Or, how about the public union Retirement Board? Not only does the Governor’s Director of the Department of Administration sit on the board, the Governor is tasked with appointing two of the public members of the board. Then there are the Department of Environmental Management, the Department of Labor, the Department of Business Regulation, the Department of Health, and numerous other departments that affect the regulation of this state and therefore, the regulation of our personal lives and the businesses that call RI home.
Appointments May Be More Telling Than Election Results
When you settle in front of the TV this election season to watch the debates, it will be interesting to note any references to appointments. What kinds of promises and deals have been struck regarding those plum appointments? Think about education. Who would you want (or not want) running the show as it relates to education - someone determined to make RI’s education system child-centered or someone who wants to protect the interests of the adults in the system? Think about all of the climate change bills that were passed in the 2014 session. The Department of Environmental Management (along with the various environmental commissions and boards that have been created) has the authority to further regulate you and me and all RI businesses and municipalities as it relates to climate change. It could be very costly. And the list of appointments goes on.
November will tell us a little more about where the power pendulum is headed, but the appointments will tell us more about the deals that are being made today. And, it would seem, those appointments will provide the best bellwether.
Pam Gencarella is a member of OSTPA, a taxpayer advocacy organization in Rhode Island.
Related Articles
- Pam Gencarella: Something’s Rotten in the State of Denmark, er, RI
- Pam Gencarella: Introducing The People’s Resolution
- Pam Gencarella: Will Spring Bring Renewed Hope to RI?
- Pam Gencarella: Another Bubble to Burst in RI?
- Pam Gencarella: Ethics is Good Business for Rhode Island
- Pam Gencarella: A Civics Lesson From the East Bay
- Pam Gencarella: A Race to the Top or Running in Circles?
- Pam Gencarella: It’s Easy to Vote for Santa
- Pam Gencarella: Why You Should Care About a Constitutional Convention
- Pam Gencarella: Witness the Crowding Out of Public Services
- Pam Gencarella: RI Has Lost Cabin Pressure
- Pam Gencarella: Don’t Touch That Dial
