The Illinois House, lorded over by Speaker Mike Madigan, will decide to overturn Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a bill that strips the governor of his beginning position in contract negotiations with state unions — in particular the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). What Madigan and his fellow travelers want is to set up an arbitration board made up of three persons, two of whom would most like be strongly pro-union. Good for AFSCME, not so good for Illinois, which is boiling in red ink.
On a side note, I would like to state that I am not anti-union, strange as that may sound. I am a believer in the power of labor to freely join together and use its collective strength — IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. Public unions are, by their very construct, opponents of the state and, by extension, of the public interest.
