Did you know that government employee unions have huge influence on state budget and policy? Did you know that these unions pursue their own special interests using money collected from government employee paychecks? These salaries are taxpayer funded, which means your tax dollars are going to advance someone else's agenda. Is this what democracy looks like? In Illinois, we've given unions the power to keep 400,000 children out of school by waging strike threats. We've prevented teachers and other government employees from being rewarded with merit pay for exceptional performance. We've turned over tens of millions of dollars to government unions with hardly any questions asked. The fact is, government employee unions have very powerful incentives to expand the size of government. A larger government requires more government workers. And with more workers, unions capture an ever-larger stream of revenues from the mandatory union dues they collect. More revenue means more lobbying power for unions and more sweetheart deals from politicians. How does government finance this inevitable expansion? Through taxes and debt. More taxes on you today, and more debt for your children and grandchildren to pay off in the future. The nature of this system threatens government's very ability to function, provide services to the poorest among us, and maintain a balanced budget. Its time to reform Illinois' labor law now.
