This is Huge: Hagan Votes Against North Carolinians in Collective Bargaining Vote

Hat Tip to Piedmont Publius:

Greensboro's own Senator Kay Hagan voted for cloture to allow a floor vote on a bill that would require states and localities to engage in collective bargaining with unions representing public sector employees.  This is tantamount to her voting in favor of this policy, because her party has a supermajority in the United States Senate.

Hagan voted against North Carolina taxpayers.  She voted against our units of local government, and also against our state government itself. 

We are already laboring under bloated budgets and massive projected deficits at the state and local level; but she has no compunction about making those situations worse.

I wonder how all those who have labeled her a "moderate" and a "business progressive" might feel about her now.

Comments

[Stormy]

Hagan is a politician. And, as we have learned, politicians will always lie, when it becomes necessary to survive. All politicians do it, regardless of party, but it seems that Dems do it more regularly.

[Bubba]

".....but she has no compunction about making those situations worse."

She's a good little girl. She does whatever her Democrat handlers tell her to do.

Chuckie Schumer is very proud of what he created, I'm sure.

[Brandon Burgess]

Do firefighters and police officers not pay taxes?

[Bubba]

"Do firefighters and police officers not pay taxes?"

Leaving aside the payback and corruption factor this bill represents, you obviously don't understand any of the implication that collective bargaining means to government at every level of state, county, and cities across the nation.

Have you learned nothing from what's been going on in the GPD for more than five years now?

[Roch101]

There is no collective bargaining in the GPD.

[Ken Hill]

But Hagan would help begin such collective bargaining for the GPD and other government units. Such collective bargaining has bankrupted some CA cities. The union political funds bankrolled much of the Hagan campaign. She is bought and paid for.

[Ken Hill]

http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748703625304575115551578762006.html

Perhaps Roch can persuade a friend to read and explain this to him. Let's hope the friend persists until understanding results. But wait, do his friends understand?

[Bubba]

"There is no collective bargaining in the GPD."

Exactly.

And given the greed and the social agitation shown by elements within the ranks, instituting collective bargaining for public employees would transform a terrible GPD situation into a nightmare of unthinkable proportions.

More on the perils and consequences of allowing collective bargaining for public employees:

(Be sure to look for a name familiar to us locally.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/29/AR2010052903132.html

Excerpt:

"The results have been striking -- and strikingly unaffordable -- in a county where more than half of all spending goes to public schools. The average teacher salary in Montgomery today is $76,483, the highest in the region. Average pay for teachers is now almost 20 percent higher in Montgomery than in Fairfax and has increased much faster than in most local suburban school systems. Since 2000, salaries for Montgomery teachers, as for many other county employees, have nearly doubled, rising at almost triple the rate of inflation.

Teachers are pillars of any community, and Montgomery's are highly rated. But their compensation has outstripped the marketplace. Today, Montgomery schools spend about 20 percent more per pupil than Fairfax schools; they consume a greater share of the public spending than in any other locality in the region. The spending gap is not about classroom quality and student achievement; in those terms the two school systems are comparable. Rather, the difference is compensation, which accounts for 90 percent of Montgomery's education spending.

Virginia law denies public employees collective bargaining rights; that's helped Fairfax resist budget-busting wage and benefit demands. As revenue dipped two years ago, Fairfax officials froze all salaries for county government and school employees with little ado. By contrast, Montgomery leaders were badly equipped to cope with recession. County Executive Isiah Leggett took office proposing fat budgets and negotiating openhanded union deals after he succeeded Mr. Duncan. Then, as economic storm clouds gathered, he shifted gears and cut spending -- while still trying to appease the unions."

Make sure you read about the other abuses collective bargaining brought about.

[Joe Guarino]

Bubba and Ken are right. Having come of age in NYC, I experienced firsthand the problems collective bargaining for public sector employee engender. It would be a huge mistake to impose it nationwide, as Senator Hagan apparently would like to do.

[concerned citizen]

Collective bargaining by public employees in NC will be a disaster in the making. You can throw balanced budgeting and prudent fiscal management out the window. Our local governments have no experience whatsoever in confronting the demands of organized labor, and will be at their mercy. If this becomes law we can expect truckloads of union organizers to head our way. The only one to benefit from collective bargaining will be the ones collecting union dues. Shame on Kay Hagan!

[Joe Guarino]

I agree, Concerned. Fortunately, it did not pass in the Senate-- at least as of yet. And yes, shame on Kay Hagan. Unsurprisingly, there has been little reporting locally regarding her vote.