Slavery?

The ethically challenged former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Charlie Rangel, is obviously running our of adjectives to ways to describe his big labor union boss friends.   Speaking at Congressional Black Caucus event, Rangel compared efforts to reign in the out of control government worker unions as “close to slavery.”  

President Roosevelt opposed public sector unionism and the A.F.L.-C.I.O. Executive Council’s 1959 said: “In terms of accepted collective bargaining procedures, government workers have no right beyond the authority to petition Congress — a right available to every citizen.”  Does that make them proponents of slavery, Mr. Rangel?

Forcing union members to join a union and coerce them to pay union dues is certainly closer to slavery than ending the ability of government union bosses to fleece taxpayers for more pay and benefits.  But don’t count on Mr. Rangel to object forced unionism.