Having sat across the table from the union, I am far from a union sympathizer. Nevertheless, management who agrees to being gouged is equally at fault. Allowing the union to manage your choice of suppliers shows the same weak kneed approach to negotiating that the illustrious car manufacturers used in bringing them to bankruptcy.

The superintendent responsible for costs accepting "I could never get a definitive answer on that," as to why insurance was so high did like the carrot of the cheaper rates offerred non unionized employees probably about as much as the Detriot folk enjoyed getting there bonuses while running the companies into the ground.

Those criminals knew they were not competitive and were kicking the can down the road, but played the shell game for bonus dollars card.

Public sector employees should for the most part not have the right to strike, but a system could be implemented where both sides submit a proposal to an independent arbitrator. The arbitrator must accept the entire proposal of one side or the other, if the cost of the proposal varies in cost by more than 1-2% from the selected proposal, the negotiators are restricted from EVER participating in proposal development or submissions in the public sector FOREVER.

Nothing like being held accountable for being reasonable.

orgy