So it all about collective bargaining huh?

True, it is just another lie. When everyone is sitting on the same side of the "bargaining" table, there are no negotiations. Its' been decades state workers and teachers in Wisconsin have really had to negotiate for anything. The school boards and state government has long been securely in the unions' pocket. Even though they whine about "negotiations", what the workers really fear here is having to actually negotiate. Of course, what the unions fear most is what all unions fear... that the workers might have a few choices.

If school X settles for a slight increase then the neighboring districts are forced to increase also. This is because when you go to mediation or arbrition they look at neighboring districts and what they settled for.This is why Unions sometimes work very hard to get certain people elected to one or two local districts just so they get the settlements that will set the comparables for the area.

So many things sound more and more like "Atlas Shrugged".. - Even Roosevelt, as liberal minded as he was knew unions for government workers would be a disaster.

I think it's sad to see what unions have become. When unions started they were dealing with things like people not being paid for hours worked, workers being brutally mistreated, underpaid, and being in debt to their own employers. It was really sick the way workers were treated and unions were formed out of necessity so workers could be treated like human beings. Now, it's nothing like that. The people they represent have great pay and benefits and the unions, rather than being working, caring people, are fat cats just looking to milk the employers, or in this case the taxpayers, for all they can to make sure teachers keep paying dues. They still convince their lemmings that, without them, people would be treated like slaves by their employers. Despite the success of so many right to work states, where unions are almost nonexistant, people actually believe that garbage.

They know which way the wind is blowing and they want to get as many new contracts with all those great benefits signed before any more districts catch the wave that flowing out from Wisconsin. In a way, who can blame them? They are going to get what they can while they can. They realize the tide is turning and more and more school districts and states will not be willing to grant such generous benefits. But when they meet resistance, trust me, they will do the same as the unions in Wisconsin. I had always known that the NEA leaned left and that teachers, in general, had a political mindset which they try to pass on to their students. Before Wisconsin, I had never seen it's ugliest side, and now I worry about how our children can learn when the teachers worry more about the future of their benefits than the future of the nation.

I thought the time for unions disappeared decades ago. Union leadership, if you can call it that, is out for power and money. And with this President/Administration, they have that. Unions keep our teacher, police, firemen, etc. corps mediocre at best. I want to see the unions go. I want outstanding teachers, policemen/women, etc. paid for their talent, knowledge, skills, etc. I want the bad ones gone. Unions don't allow either to happen.