The State of the Government Unions

THE STATE OF THE GOVERNMENT UNIONS ш THE PROBLEM: REOUT OF CONTROL GOVERNMENT UNIONS 1% THEY HOLD THE CARDS, AND TAXPAYERS LOSE: State and local government unions push taxpayers' interests off the table, threatening elected officials with strikes, work slowdowns and election-day battles. Unions spend hundreds of millions of dollars on elections, leaving The national average hourly wage and benefits premium a government worker taxpayers to pick up the tab for their growing wages and benefits. enjoys over his private-sector counterparts. IT'S GOOD TO BE IN GOVERNMENT: Nearly half of government employees rate their personal finances as good or excellent, while only 33% of private- sector employees do. One reason: Most government employees have taxpayer-backed retirement plans that guarantee their monthly income and benefits. THE COST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR ACROSS THE NATION COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TAXPAYERS IN STATES BY GOVERNMENT UNIONS THAT END COLLECTIVE COSTS AMERICAN BARGAINING COULD TAXPAYERS SAVE AROUND $50$2k BILLION A YEAR PER EMPLOYEE, PER YEAR PUTTING IT IN PERSPECTIVE: $50 billion is more than three times the annual budget of Chicago and Los Angeles, combined. And saving more than $2,000 per employee per year would mean hundreds of dollars in reduced tax burden for every family. THE SOLUTION: HOBE THIS WAY IT DOESN'T HAVE MORE THAN 30 YEARS AGO, VIRGINIA SAID NO TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR GOVERNMENT WORKERS. The lights are still on in Virginia. The streets of its cities and towns are still patrolled and its children are still educated. The difference? It's all done at a much lower cost because elected officials are free to serve taxpayers – not union bosses. LEARN MORE: GOLDWATERINSTITUTE.ORG/AZREFORM