Cuomo jumps on anti-union bnadwagon

Cuomo Vows Offensive Against Labor Unions

I don't think I can vote for this guy now. I'm tired of hearing organized labor being used as the scapegoat for our economic woes.
Labor unions represent the people who provide you with vital services everyday, whether you realize it or not. These are firefighters, sanitation workers, health care workers, bus drivers, the people who maintain our roads, parks and government buildings, your doorman, your elevator operator, prison guards, teachers, etc.
Historically, labor unions have not only helped those within their ranks, but rather, set the standards for workers rights in this country. If you or anyone in your family has employer-based health insurance, sick days, vacation days, personal days, maternity or paternity leave, time-and-a-half overtime pay, standard 40-hour work week, workers compensation insurance or holidays, then you have benefited from the work of labor unions.
Labor unions' primary duty is to collectively bargain for the workers, in order to achieve a fair contract. Through collective bargaining, unions have secured decent wages that workers can live on. Do you believe that firefighters and electricians working on high-voltage lines are overpaid, considering the risky work they do?
Through collective bargaining, unions have often sacrificed higher wages for better benefits. Many NY State politicians like to point to the insolvent state workers pension fund as evidence of the excesses of union benefits, but consider this: The state agreed to the pension fund over the course of negotiations with the unions, and then failed to pay into it the way they were supposed to. Yet, the legislature never failed to give themselves a pay raise when they wanted one.
I also wonder what Cuomo's "offensive" entails. Layoffs in the public sector? That would mean cuts in vital services, more people on the unemployment rolls and less income tax revenue. How is that going to help NY State?

In conclusion, Jimmy McMillan, you have secured my vote.