You've Got to be Kidding: Disrupting the Flow

I bitched a little about the auto union the other day, and today I have another union to bitch about.

Says The Detroit News, "What do the Emerald Ash Borer and AFSCME Local 542 and have in common? Both are preventing the greening of Detroit. The former, by fatally disrupting the flow of water and nutrients in ash trees; the latter, by disrupting the efforts of volunteers to replace the trees waylaid by the invasive species that's been plaguing Michigan since 2002."

Apparently, the forestry workers (union workers, of course) are pissed because the city wants to use volunteers (as in, unpaid workers) to help with the reforestation of the city. The city has $200,000 to plant 2,000 saplings, and it is just enough to cover the cost of the trees, mulch, and training volunteers. Local 542 thinks the contract is a competition for the city's 50 or so forestry workers who think their jobs are being outsourced.

Well, if your jobs weren't so damn expensive due to the union jacking up the price, they wouldn't have to get volunteers to do your job. Which is more important here: the people of the city or the union?