The Maryland Public Policy Institute
JULY 1, 2010
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It appears that health care workers in Maryland haven’t learned from the example of all the other unionized workers in America. Over 400 of them, together with Danny Glover and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, marched for increased unionization rights in Mt. Vernon Square last Thursday.
They complain that many of them are unable to afford the types of quality health care that they provide and that many of them are making wages that keep them just above the poverty line. While it would be pretty barbaric to say that this is an insignificant thing, it would also be a little ridiculous to demand that everyone who works on Ferraris should be paid a wage that allows them to drive one.
In an age of unprecedented entitlements, we seem to forget that this country is in the business of providing “the Ferrari of health care,” and that sometimes it is perfectly acceptable to settle for a BMW or a Lexus when you can’t afford the best of the best. They still get the job done, and dramatically better than most others on the market.
But enough car analogies. Is it so wrong to want a better living? Of course not. But we must remember that even the worst America has to offer, hospital-wise, is far better than what the majority of the world has, just as even those in poverty in America are significantly better off than billions of people worldwide.
We also need to look at what history has to teach us about unionization in America. It certainly had its place in the early days, when the typical factory worker was forced to work extraordinarily long hours (by today’s standards) for wages that kept them dependant on their employer.
But what about Detroit’s auto unions, which led to the near-destruction of a once-proud city and industry? And what about the unionized teachers, police, and firefighters in Maryland, whose pensions have become such a burden on the state that we simply cannot afford them? In fact, this pension issue is not one localized in Maryland, nor have we even begun to see what a strain it will put on government budgets in the coming years.
As I am currently an independent contractor for three different organizations and an employee of one, I don’t get to demand higher wages unless I can prove I deserve them. I am in the same boat as the majority of the rest of America. Why? Because this is how businesses work -- lest we want to suffer the same fate as the city of Detroit on a national scale.
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