[lbo-talk] Right wing to unions: give in

[c b]

Editorial: Unions must adapt to the times
Michigan's public employee unions must adapt to economic times and
stop counterproductive tactics
This Labor Day presents a moment of truth for public employee unions
in Michigan. They should recognize the state's dire economic situation
and adapt. Instead, from the union halls in Detroit to the campus of
Oakland University in Rochester, there is the same old
fire-and-brimstone talk about keeping what they have and the
unfairness of city and university leaders.

In Detroit, at least one city union is talking about walking out
because of Mayor Dave Bing's demands for pay cuts and benefit reforms.
In Rochester, Oakland University faculty union members showed their
disconnect from the fiscal realities afflicting this state by striking
and shutting down classes since Thursday for the campus's 18,000
students. The faculty union has been upset with the university's
demands for a pay freeze, reductions in health care options, cuts in
summer pay and elimination of research leaves. It doesn't like a
university request to hire non-tenure-track professors. The union also
contends that the administration did not engage in serious bargaining
until recently.

But some of the administration's demands shouldn't have been too much
of a surprise. The school announced in June that it was imposing a pay
freeze on its administrative staff and would be seeking less expensive
health insurance packages as well.