NEW FRONTIERS IN LEGISLATIVE BLACKMAIL:

The Service Employees International Union is sponsoring ballot initiatives in California and Oregon that would cap executive pay at hospitals and limit how much customers can be charged. But what does this have to do with the workers? you will ask. The answer is nothing, directly. Instead, the ballot initiatives are bargaining chips. If the hospitals will “work with” the union, the SEIU will back off the ballot initiatives, which threaten hospital profits.

Hey, I have an idea: How about legislation saying that union officials can’t make more than 4 times the pay of their lowest-paid member? That seems fair — and, unlike rules for employers, it even polices a potential conflict-of-interest. Start pushing that one!