Project Mayhem, Part I: SEIU, Lies and Videotape
by Christian Hartsock“The first rule of Project Mayhem: You do not ask questions.” –Tyler Durden, Fight Club
On November 8, Ohioans vote on Issue 2 – which determines the fate of SB 5, signed in March by Gov. John Kasich. The bill offers to save $191 million annually at the state level and millions more at the local level by asking public employees to contribute merely 10 percent to their pensions and 15 percent towards their health care (as opposed to the average 31 percent that private employees contribute).
While actually preserving collective bargaining “rights,” it brings the actual employer (the taxpayer) to the bargaining table by replacing unelected, unfireable binding arbitrators with elected officials directly accountable for budget solvency, and clarifies the collectively bargainable “terms and conditions” – the ambiguities of which have long been exploited by unions for Cadillac benefits at taxpayer expense.
But one must read the bill to know this – which its opponents apparently don’t want you to do.
At an SEIU rally outside the Ohio Capitol in Columbus, I approached a member for information. She responded that under the bill “we will soon not have any seniority benefits, insurance benefits will go out the window” (correction: 90 percent of her pension and 85 percent of her health care will still be taxpayer-funded), and “we won’t have any rights for bargaining for safety” (correction: SB 5 is the very first law to grant workers the authority to bargain on safety under Section 4117.08 – a right not clarified in the Democrat-sponsored Ohio collective bargaining law of 1983).
When I then asked how a law that specifically grants the right to bargain on safety is taking away the right to bargain on safety, an SEIU organizer interrupted the interview, insisting their members are not to answer questions.
One must wonder why the SEIU rank and file – whom their organizers recruit to “get out the message” – are not even trusted by their organizers to, well, explain the message. Like Project Mayhem, the first rule of SEIU is: You do not ask questions.







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