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If the trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa were alive today, he would probably represent civil servant.When Hoffa's Teamsters were in their prime in 1960, only one in ten American governmentworkers belonged to a union; now 36% do. In 2009 the number of unionists in America's public sector passed that of their fellow members in the private sector. In Britain, more than half of public-sector workers but only about 15% of private-sector ones are unionized.
There are three reasons for the public-sector unions' thriving. First, they can shut things downwithout suffering much in the way of consequences. Second, they are mostly bright and well-educated.A quarter of America's public-sector workers have a university degree. Third, they now dominateleft-of-centre politics. Some of their ties go back a long way. Britain's Labor Party, as its nameimplies, has long been associated with trade unionism. Its current leader, Ed Miliband, owes hisposition to votes from public-sector unions.
At the state level their influence can be even more fearsome. Mark Baldassare of the PublicPolicy Institute of California points out that much of the state's budget is patrolled by unions. Theteachers' unions keep an eye on schools, the CCPOA on prisons and a variety of labor groups onhealth care.
In many rich countries average wages in the state sector are higher than in the private one.But the real gains come in benefits and work practices. Politicians have repeatedly "backloaded"public-sector pay deals, keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especiallypensions that are already generous.
Reform has been vigorously opposed, perhaps most egregiously in education, where charterschools, academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles. Even though there is plenty ofevidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable, teachers' unions havefought against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones.
As the cost to everyone else has become clearer, politicians have begun to clamp down. InWisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker, the hardlineRepublican governor. But many within the public sector suffer under the current system, too.
John Donahue at Harvard's Kennedy School points out that the norms of culture in Westerncivil services suit those who want to stay put but is bad for high achievers. The only Americanpublic-sector workers who earn well above ~250,000 a year are university sports coaches and thepresident of the United States. Bankers' fat pay packets have attracted much criticism, but apublic-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem forAmerica.
It can be learned from the first paragraph that ( ). A.Teamsters still have a large body of members
B.Jimmy Hoffa used to work as a civil servant
C.unions have enlarged their public-sector membership
D.the government has improved its relationship with unionists
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