Minnesota Governor Orders Vote On Unionizing Child Care Providers
Union enrollment has been in decline for years in the private sector. In fact, just recently, public sector union enrollment surpassed private sector enrollment for the first time ever. Obviously, the unions are desperate to prop up their membership, and so they’ve deployed a sort of political sleight of hand to force people into their ranks.
The unions are redefining payments made through government assistance programs as, essentially, government salaries and then classifying the recipients as de facto government employees eligible to be unionized. In Michigan they’ve tried this with Medicaid recipients and recipients of child care assistance. Now, in Minnesota, unions have convinced Governor Mark Dayton to order a special election among child care providers to determine whether or not they want to organize.
ST. PAUL — Gov. Mark Dayton this morning ordered an election to allow child care providers to vote whether they want a union representing them.
Republicans immediately said they will go to court to prevent next month’s vote.
Dayton said child care providers who receive state subsidies asked him to unilaterally order union representation to improve their wages and working conditions. However, he said, the American way is to conduct an election.
The vote will happen next month, with results to be announced Dec. 21.
Dayton’s executive order provides for the election, but even if more than half of the day care providers vote to allow unionization, no provider is required to join or pay dues.
“The fairest way, and the American way, to settle this dispute is to have an election, where all people directly affected will have an opportunity to vote,” Dayton said.
Dayton and his supporters wrap this issue in the guise of democracy, but if child care providers really wanted to organize why couldn’t they just make that decision for themselves? Though the notion that receiving assistance through a government program somehow makes you a government employee eligible for participation in public worker unions is ridiculous.
What’s next? Classifying Medicare and Social Security recipients as government employees too?
Maybe we shouldn’t give these people any ideas.
Tags: mark dayton, minnesota, unions
