Fire fighter strike. Homes burn. People die.

Think about it: private sector union membership has plummeted in this country but public sector unions have thrived. Why is that? If the auto workers strike, the car companies suffer. If BART strikes, then all 7 million people in the Bay Area suffer.

Unions need to do the hard work of drawing workers back to private sector unions. Governments are held hostage by public sector unions. For example, we used to have an active and effective volunteer fire dept serving our suburban community with successful fire training programs through the local community college. Then, the county leadership changed all that by bringing in a fire chief who preferred working with the fire union. Within 5 years, the volunteers were gone and our fire district was in serious debt because we could not afford the union fire fighters who also demanded all new equipment and new fire houses. Over half the fire houses closed and remain so. We are grossly under protected because we cannot afford the fire fighters we have. Yet the district directors will not reinstate the volunteer program because they have a contract woth the union.