I try not to hate...

I really do try not to hate. Sometimes, I fail. Here is another reason I hate, viscerally, unions. Specifically public, but it bleeds over to private as well. This story is from Michigan. Here's a bit;

Buikema has been trying to leave the union since last spring, when he realized that GEA leaders were uninterested in helping the district control costs, even in the face of a multi-million dollar deficit.

By refusing to make wage and benefit concessions, the union contributed to conditions that led to 27 teachers – including Buikema – receiving layoff notices. The district was also forced into making cuts to student academic and extracurricular programs.

Buikema’s job was saved at the last minute, but he was disgusted by the union’s selfishness.

The union’s intransigence convinced Buikema that “the union doesn’t care about kids.”

“They keep asking for more and more, even though the school district can’t afford it,” he told EAG. “They’re concerned about taking care of the adults and have no consideration for the kids. I don’t want to be part of an organization that says one thing and does another,” he said.

Buikema said he was “raked over the coals” by his local union leaders when he suggested the GEA could help alleviate the district’s financial woes – and possibly help save some teaching jobs – by switching from union-owned and operated MESSA health insurance to a less expensive carrier.

Buikema estimated that the district could save between $530,000 and $980,000 annually.

Not only did local union leaders not like Buikema’s idea, but they verbally attacked him for even suggesting it.

“The amount of flak I got, particularly from veteran teachers, was ridiculous to the point of being unprofessional,” he said.

Buikema was also put off by the NEA’s new $10 levy on members to help re-elect President Obama.

Read it all. The recall effort here in Wisconsin also adds fuel to my deep disgust with unions. They don't have the 'right' to collectively bargain. It was a privilege granted by the legislature. They didn't completely lose the privilege. It was curtailed. They have shown their lack of regard for the financial future of this state by their actions. I have a hard time drumming up sympathy for their members the longer this goes on. I hate saying that, and it troubles my conscience, as I count as friends some who are public employees. My question is simply this. Where does it stop? How much is enough? Seems to me, to the left and the public unions, it's never enough. Then, there's the fact of a biased media. They actively support the recall, and don't even try to come across as unbiased. To state the obvious, this recall is about raw power. Walker did nothing wrong or illegal. Other than being conservative. To some on the left, to simply be breathing. Well, they've managed to divide this state to the point I doubt reconciliation is out of the question. Forgiveness is always possible. Trust and working together, not so much.