In another in its long line of unconstitutional special interest bills, the Obamacrat Congress is looking to shove through a bill that would force unionism on public safety employees. Donna Martinez has a good story on this on CJ today.
North Carolina statute forbids public sector bargaining, but the bill (championed by none other than Harry Reid) would override that and mandate collective bargaining for police and fire fighters. This bill has been kicking around Congress for a long time, and is nothing than a political favor to police and fire fighter unions that would haul in more dues money.
The problem is not just that this is bad policy that will raise costs with no benefit to anyone other than union officials (and then their political allies). It’s unconstitutional. Nothing in Article I, Section 8 remotely gives Congress authority to dictate to states and localities how they will handle employment. The Tenth Amendment specifically provides that powers not given to the federal government are reserves to the states or the people. This falls into that category. It’s another instance of trampling upon federalism.
