are the real issue. Until the auto takeover changed the paradigm, the big difference between private sector unions and public sector unions was the private sector unions couldn’t buy a new board of directors. There is a political side of private sector bargaining inasmuch as which party controls the NLRB has some impact, but really only the private or third sector companies that do a lot of business with the government really get pressured politically.

In the public sector, if the union doesn’t like the governor or mayor, they just go out and buy one that they do like. I’ve never been afraid of a union in the collective bargaining world and I’ve never really ever lost to one in the collective bargaining world. I am, however, very afraid of them in the political world, even here in a very Red state. I’ve seen my government’s policies literally bought by them. I’ve seen meritorious court cases tanked because a union wanted it. I’ve seen meritorious appeals dropped. You expect the unions to own any Democrat administration but they have altogether too much influence on Republicans as well. There remain stupid Republicans who think that they can get wall-to-wall public employee unions to like them if they just give them stuff. There is NOTHING a Republican can do to get a pure public employee union to like you. They’ll use you and maybe leave a little money on the dresser, but they WILL back your opponent in the next election. The only exceptions are, sometimes, cops, COs, and some old-time trade unions.

Most of the bad stuff unions do politically is illegal, but no Democrat wants to make them behave lawfully and no Republican has the political will. And, I’ll be honest, I didn’t when I had the power to because it would have been an existential battle that would have consumed an already troubled administration. I just wanted to keep them safely and quietly under contract and thus off the streets and largely out of politics, especially for the ’04 general in which Lisa Murkowski was up for re-election against Tony Knowles, the Democrat and AFSCME darling.

AFSCME came to Alaska in the late ’80s and spent some $20 Million to de-certify the independent association and represent the State’s general government unit, about 8000 members, and to get the first contract for them. The sole reason they did that was Alaska’s Senate seats looked cheap and they wanted at least one of them. They hadn’t figured out that the reason they were cheap is that nobody would even bother to bid against an oil company. They walked away from some pretty nice offers in Hickel because they wanted to be without a contract and raising Hell for the ’94 election in which they backed Knowles. Even though I was not a political appointee in those days, the very first assignment I got from the new Democrat administration was to figure out how to cycle all the contract negotiations over the next ten years so that they’d all be up in ’04. They’d planned out Knowles run for the Senate in ’04 ten years in advance.

They set it up so that all, then, 13 agreements would expire in the first six months of ’03 and they figured they would either get Ulmer, Knowles Lt. Gov., elected or if a Republican won, they could play guerilla theater for a year so they could all be out raising Hell for the ’04 election. We huffed and puffed and threatened to blow their house down and got them under one year no dollar rollovers; one was scared and the other glad of it. Then in ’04 put a little money up and where necessary put the dues gun to their head and had them all quiet as church mice by election time.

Anyway, in a Democrat state, the goverment and the unions just work together to raid the treasury. In the few Republican states that have full-tilt collective bargaining, this is the sort of game you’re always trying to play. Oh, and AFSCME did finally get their senator with a lot of help from the USDOJ, but it took them four years longer than they’d planned and it, by God, was not on my watch! Hopefully we can get it back in ’14.

for public sector experience, unfortunately with some justification. Most people who run labor relations for a government do it for a Democrat administration that is simply a co-conspirator with the union to take other people’s money and hold on to power. I’m one of only a half dozen or so heads or former heads of a state government’s labor relations function that has actually been a part of a Republican administration or who has been involved in ANY adversarial or concessionary relationship with a union.

Back when I was in exile from the Democrats, I threw my resume out after some private sector L/R jobs, got a few phone calls, and it was clear these big companies simply didn’t believe what public sector L/R people do. One big company went so far as to ask me for some writing samples. I sent them some briefs and decision memoranda. Guy called me back and wanted to know who did the research for me and if I hired a private firm or used the AG’s office to do the briefing. I said my name was on them because I did the work, and frankly, it was inconceivable to him. They have a VP for employee relations who is important and makes strategic decisions, maybe, and then they have the General Counsel and bunches of consultants and hired negotiators, also usually Ivy League attornies.

Basically, public is public and private is private and never the twain shall meet unless card check passes. If card check passes I can get very rich and all I have to do is get the money and myself out to a country with no extradition treaty before the thugs come for me.

We can all buy “American” and buy Ford, but they’re doomed if Comrade Obama gets a second term; they might have the wherewithal to survive one term. The government buys a lot of cars; none of them will be Fords. The government rents a lot of cars; they won’t be renting from a rental car company that buys Fords. They’ll be able to extend those prohibitions to every Blue State government. Ford has some very sweet and very profitable performance cars; any insurance company that would like good relations with the government won’t be insuring those and any bank that wants good relations with the government won’t be loaning money for them without the insurance that can’t be bought.

The NLRB will rule against Ford on EVERYTHING a union complains about. Every Democrat judge in the federal districts and circuits will rule against Ford on EVERYTHING. This is the way it works when you get on the wrong side of a Democrat government. Ford can hold out and hope for the best, but if Comrade Obama is re-elected, they’ll declare bankrupcy and turn themselves over to the government and the UAW. Welcome to the great socialist workers’ paradise.