Unions: Open talks are sneak attack on workers

Re: “Will Pierce be next to open union negotiations?” (Other voices, 12/5).

Pierce County, beware. The attack on working men and women by the super-wealthy oligarchs continues. This op-ed by Jason Mercier was simply the latest is a long series of attacks against the only power working folks have, collective bargaining through unions.

This is an attempt to interfere with public employee unions because they are convenient targets, but the ultimate goal is to outlaw all unions.

Ostensibly, Mercier is making a plea for transparency. The real purpose is to further fix the rules of government to enrich corporations and the few people who control them.

The Washington Policy Center is a branch of the network set up by super-rich individuals to pass state laws to eviscerate unions, remove environmental protections and eliminate restrictions to the continuing concentration of wealth and power into the grasp of a few.

Transparency? Is the public invited to witness the negotiations for compensation packages for the corporate directors that have billions of dollars of government contracts? No. Can we sit in on contract talks for the investment managers and bankers who lost billions of taxpayer dollars? No.

And they say they want a “free market.”

This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Unions: Open talks are sneak attack on workers."