Is the Union movement stupid?

The Blowfly has been pondering a very serious question during the week.

Barry O’Farrell and Ted Baillieu have both been told by their Treasuries that their respective state economies will both suffer substantial job losses as a result of the carbon tax.

The Blowfly recognises that the path to wisdom can be more about asking the right questions rather than having answers. So he spent some time framing the question. But in the end he concluded it wasn’t rocket science.
The question is:

“Is the Union movement stupid?”

When you’ve been born of a maggot you can’t claim to be clever. But you make the most of whatever brain you do have! So here goes.

In NSW the union movement, fearing the loss of 3000-4000 jobs if the power grid was privatised , rallied the troops at the appropriate levels and managed to get rid of Morris Iemma, the then Premier. He’d faced up to the serious problem that NSW faces------by about 2014 the State will start running short of electricity. He showed leadership and paid the price. So, subsequently, did Labor! They lost Government in a landslide.

Are we then to assume that the highly-paid and mostly (these days) highly educated union leadership has blindly accepted re-assurances from the Federal Government that no jobs will be lost?

Even if they are the old-fashioned ‘tough-nut’ union leaders they still don’t seem to The Blowfly to be the type of people who accept just any answer-----they want convincing answers! They are not shrinking violets.

The union officials seek convincing answers because they know that they are going to have face up to their members and explain to them whatever course of action they decide to pursue. The members have to feed their families, pay their mortgages and see their daughters’ weddings paid for. That is all heavy stuff.

So The Blowfly reckons that when the Gillard Government displays leadership regarding the adoption of clean energy, on the pretext of stabilising global temperatures, the Government had better deliver on its promises because the union movement stands to lose everything.

Everything!

Political power! Members! Member’s funds! Leverage!

So is the Union movement stupid?

What is the game they are playing?

Tony Abbott says the sky is going to fall in. Businesses will be decimated.

The Conservative side of politics says that this is not a good time to introduce a carbon tax.

This implies that there is a good time.

And we must not forget that the Conservatives do agree with climate change. It just that they are not committed to doing anything about it. Because they have concluded that they are powerless.

But the unions must feel otherwise.

Could it be that they are looking after their interests?

They don’t want their members to be at the economic mercy of the archaic-thinking capitalist-pigs who employ them.

They are leading from underneath.

They want their members to have a better future.

The union movement has a lot riding on this.

The Blowfly, a simple insect, concludes that they know exactly what they are doing.