I have written letters to the editor in the past regarding the poor state of private sector unions and the trouble they are in because of inadequate leadership by elected or appointed union leaders. I read with interest two articles recently in The Olympian. The articles stated that Washington state employees are working on decertifying their unions. It further noted that the original certification was mishandled and that approximately only one-fifth of state employees actually voted for certification. Now the state employees are finding what this participation involves and 12 bargaining units want their union decertified. The Health Care Authority bargaining unit was successful in decertifying its union, which the union did not resist.
Watching national news on Sunday there was a segment on union problems following a brief interview with Andrew Stern, president of Service Employees International Union. He stated that too much money was being spent on politics and not enough on organizing. An earlier letter I wrote mentioned that the Teamsters union president wants more of the dues money to go into organizing but was defeated at the national AFL-CIO meeting.
The Civil Service Act was placed into law to prevent political cronyism. Now it is the government union leaders who have taken up that task, which can be witnessed in the current legislative session in Olympia. I believe that a government employee should have the decision whether or not he or she wants to belong to a union and pay dues or “fees” to be represented by them, or not be associated with them at all.
Union leaders need to concentrate on rebuilding the private sector unions.
Erv Hoglund
Everett
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