Thin Film of Common Sense

Thin Film of Common Sense - Note to people flogging ultraliberal causes: when even the Strib Editorial Board comes out against you, you should probably reconsider your strategery.

Minnesota's two biggest public employee unions are talking strike again. Their last strike - weeks after 9/11 - was memorialized in an editorial Saturday:

"Minnesota's two biggest public employees' unions are not known for possessing keen public-relations instincts.

Two years ago, they conducted what was arguably the worst-timed strike in state history. The picket lines went up just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, amid a blizzard of private-sector pink slips and a precipitous drop in economic activity. The work stoppage lasted two weeks, ending in a split-the-differences settlement that just about covered the wages foregone during the strike -- but contributed to layoffs within their ranks, and cost the unions valuable public good will.

AFSCME and MAPE employees will be voting on the state's "Final" offer in about ten days. The unions' leaders are apparently leaning toward rejection.

So what is the meat of the deal? The Strib takes up the story:

Single state employees would still see their monthly premiums fully paid by the state. Family-coverage premiums would rise to $93.22 per month in 2004. Copayments for office visits, other than preventive visits, under the least-costly plan option would rise from $5 to $15.

Even when I was working and had insurance, I didn't get premiums like that. I've been paying copays of at least $15 for years.

Deductibles will rise - again, to the sort of levels that most Minnesotans are very used to.

So most Minnesotans, I think, won't feel all that sympathetic - but the feelings of the Minnesotan on the Street have never mattered to the Strib editorial board before.

So reading something like this:

The unions should recognize that their best interests would be served by a negotiated settlement that averts a strike, and avoids the spectacle of union workers refusing benefits many private-sector workers -- not to mention unemployed Minnesotans -- would gladly accept.

...should make any union leader blanche in horror. Even the Strib has jumped ship.

Posted by Mitch at September 14, 2003 05:45 AM