The conservative war on public-sector unions is having its intended effect:
There are deeply divided opinions and shifting allegiances over whether unions are helping or hurting people who have been caught in the recent economic squeeze. And workers themselves, being pitted against one another, are finding it hard to feel sympathy or offer solidarity, with their own jobs lost and their benefits and pensions cut back or cut off. [...]
In Palmyra, a small village bounded by farmland and forests, Mary Kay Horter remembered how her husband's Chevy dealership had teetered on the brink of closing after General Motors declared bankruptcy, for which she blamed unions.
Ms. Horter said she was forced to work more hours as an occupational therapist, but had not seen a raise or any retirement contributions from her employer for the last two years. All told, her family's income has dropped by about a third.
“I don't get to bargain in my job, either,” she said.
In a terrible economy, it's not hard to convince envious private-sector workers that their public-sector counterparts are getting too much. And indeed, conservatives have done a great job of exploiting economic insecurity for the purpose of jealousy and resentment. Ms. Horter doesn't wonder why she can't bargain for her pay and benefits; instead, she turns her anger and anxiety to unions and public-sector workers: "Why aren't they suffering, like I am?" If private-sector unions were strong, then a broader sentiment of worker solidarity might direct this anger toward its proper targets. As it stands, worker solidarity is almost nonexistent, economic elites are triumphant, and workers are easily pitted against each other in the fight for their scraps.
