Andy's Blog

We have all heard reprehensible stories about
the “company store.” Employees work for sub par
wages and at the end of the day, they spend their
wages at the only place they can – the overpriced
company store. Essentially, employees are enslaved
to keep working in miserable conditions just to pay
for inflated groceries, clothing, and the necessities of
life.

Although company stores no longer exist, the
mentality is still present today. We see it in our own
city council.

It seems Councilor Russ Stover, in his proposed “card
check neutrality agreement,” wants every tax payer
in the City of Duluth to shop at the company store.
In return, he will gain political points from the union
he is working to help. The card check neutrality
agreement artificially raises costs, is anti-business, is
anti-development, and ultimately is designed to
increase union membership while at the same time
limit the number of options for employers, employees,
and taxpayers. In essence this proposal, if passed,
will raise your property taxes and increase your utility
rates, while at the same time sending business
scurrying for the exits.

Consider the facts. Businesses that are subject to
the inflexibility of unions do not necessarily pay
more. In fact, they often limit their operations or
limit hiring. As such, fewer people are employed,
fewer benefits are paid out, and those businesses
often look elsewhere to expand. When fewer
businesses operate in any particular area, fewer
people are employed and people pay higher taxes.
Moreover, allowing unions to easily unionize
employees only gives those employees a temporary
boost – when they leave that place of employment
they lack the essential skills to make their way in the
market place. The card check neutrality agreement
proposed by Councilor Stover is seemingly most
beneficial to him. If passed, Councilor Stover can be
assured the union will claim victory for the worker
while ignoring the negative effects it will bring to our
area. Further, Councilor Stover could be assured the
unions will work hard for him in his upcoming
election – this is political cronyism in its most obvious
form.

To be sure, the Chamber is not against unions. For
example, we openly support labor unions’ “project
labor agreements.” This is where a union builder
competitively wins an award to build a building and
then is allowed to make sure the project is staffed by
top quality and well trained union workers. In this
case, everybody wins. Workers make good wages
and continue to acquire training that makes them
employable when the job ends. Unions are good
when they help educate workers, are flexible, and
serve to make their members employable in whatever
market they so choose.

Councilor Stover ought to consider his allegiances,
motivations for, and ramifications of his proposal. His
primary allegiance is a union that proposes their
members get a thirty percent raise when our city
already uses every penny of property tax just to pay
the retiree benefits of our city workers, and a union
that is bent upon holding political leadership no
matter what the cost to the taxpayer. Moreover,
does the councilor really think that artificially inflating
the wages of those entering the job market really
help or will it just chase away business? But then
again we should not hold our collective breath that
Councilor Stover will change his mind – he has never
found a tax or a utility rate that he has not been
willing to raise.

Families with lower incomes, the elderly, and business
owners should be concerned about Councilor Stover’s
tactics – he isn’t. Tell him so by emailing your
thoughts to rstover@ci.duluth.mn.us.

For complete story see Duluth News Tribune article:
Stover Proposes Organizing Ordinance.