Public Employee Unions Are Having a Fine Old Lockdown

Politicians begging Washington for a bailout have been doling out raises to government workers.

By Carol Platt Liebau. Ms. Liebau is president the of Yankee Institute for Public Policy. Excerpts:

"As part of his proposed $1.9 trillion relief bill, President Biden wants to send $350 billion in unrestricted cash to state and local governments to fill their budget holes. But while Covid-19 has depressed state tax revenue, the prospect of federal aid has encouraged many of these supposedly blameless states to keep piling on costs. Nowhere has that been more evident than with the pay raises dished out in recent months to government employees. As private businesses hold on by their fingernails, public-sector labor unions have their hands out, demanding the pay raises set forth in labor contracts negotiated before the pandemic ravaged public finances.

In Connecticut, where unemployment was 8% in December after topping 10% this summer, state workers have pocketed two rounds of raises: a 3.5% bump in July and another worth about 2% earlier this month. Gov. Ned Lamont had initially suggested postponing the raises—“to lead by example”—but the labor union 1199 SEIU blitzed the airwaves with television commercials accusing unnamed politicians of wanting to “take away” their wages. Mr. Lamont folded."

"Automatic pay increases regardless of economic conditions are an unimaginable proposition in the private economy. Many government employees collected their full pay and benefits while not working during the spring 2020 lockdowns."

"Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak last summer learned firsthand how government union contracts can handcuff public officials when circumstances change radically. He tried to block some raises, only to face legal action under the collective-bargaining law he’d campaigned on and signed. Mr. Sisolak settled for smaller negotiated concessions."

"Governors and state legislatures are avoiding these hard choices and instead letting union contracts drag their states further into the red. They do it in part because Congress has conditioned them to expect a federal rescue regardless of their spending decisions. The 2009 stimulus signed by President Obama lavished more than $48 billion on states to prevent job cuts at public schools while leaving union contracts intact."