about the same percentage they represented in 1932 before passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 and down from over 30% of the private workforce in the 1950s. Unionized private sector workers are concentrated in industries that rely heavily on public funding or which are heavily regulated by government, e.g., regulated utilities, defense and aerospace, transportation. There are enclaves also in “legacy” manufacturing such as autos, steel, and mining. Though the health care employers were once among the strongest opponents of unionization, healthcare has become increasingly unionized, often with voluntary recognition in order to secure union political support for increased public funding. The contours of the modern global economy have essentially eliminated unionization in the true private sector.

Unionization of public employees was generally considered illegal until the 1960s. It was explicitly illegal for federal employees and for the employees of many states. New York and Wisconsin were among the first to confer bargaining rights to some or all of their State and local government employees and today about half the states have unionized workforces and mandate recognition of a union that has “majority” support. The remaining states either do not give legal sanction or recognition or have only limited groups of employees made eligible for bargaining, e.g., police and fire employees or teachers. These unionized public employees are now the dominant force in both organized labor and the Democrat Party.

It has been black letter law since the 1980s that it is unconstitutional in the public sector to use compelled dues for the “social, political, and fraternal” activities of a union if a member objects to the use. In Democrat controlled states and the federal government under a Democrat administration, the prohibition is simply ignored. Unfortunately, in Republican controlled governments it is usually ignored as well even though well over ninety percent of union political money is used against Republicans.

There is hardly a union in the Country whose dues schemes and record keeping would withstand scrutiny for compliance with the 1st Am. That said, were a Republican governor or attorney general to challenge the unions in his/her state, it would become an existential battle that would consume the administration. Only one in recent times has had the guts to try to take the unions on at the state level, Gov. Swartzenegger, and he quickly found that he didn’t have a friend in the World, including the Republicans who should have supported him, and the unions handed him his head. Many here delight in calling him a RINO, but he was the only governor brave enough to attack the beast and NOBODY supported him, so I understand why he has taken some of the positions he has since the iniatiatie debacle.

Not having been born just that very morning, when I was in the position to “do something,” I simply advised my principals against the existential battle and rather simply sought to use bargaining tactics and strategy to keep my state’s unionized employees in the collective bargaining rather than political arena. Having been a part of some fairly agressive concessionary bargaining and hardball tactics towards unions in past administrations, I well knew what it was like to be all alone without a friend in the World and with a laser dot on your forehead.

I’m not saying it can’t be done or shouldn’t be done; I’ve long advocated Republican Governors and AGs taking an agressive stand against unions in their states. That said, whoever does it had better not be one of the Rotary Club Republicans who can’t stand to hear a discourageing word about themselves and they’d better not have any bad habits or skeletons in their closet.