Collective bargaining for government workers is a one-way street

In response to Charles Parrish’s Saturday letter, “Greedy capitalists”: The reason public-sector employees make more than private-sector employees is the public-sector unions.

In the private sector, if unions demand too much from the company, the company can bargain with some authority. If employees strike, companies are able to replace those striking workers. In the public sector, not only can those employees not be replaced, there is no responsible management to bargain in good faith for the taxpayers paying the bills. The elected officials simply give public-sector unions what they want because they want those union votes come election time.

Elected officials just keep increasing pay and benefits, while bilking the taxpayers who elected them out of more and more tax dollars. It is a big reason why most public-sector pension systems are fundamentally bankrupt. There are no checks and balances in public-sector unions.

Binding arbitration for public-sector pay and benefit disputes is a joke, as evidenced by the Clark County School District being continuously way over budget despite funding increases year after year. It’s called bilking the taxpayer.