Following up on my earlier open letters in which both candidates for governor were asked about a number of economic questions:

Mr. Snyder, at a recent appearance in Chelsea, you observed that many government employees know their retirement date and won't hesitate to tell you when they are asked. You took that as a sign of a serious morale problem among government employees.

Well, as you know, nearly all government employees are represented by unions, and those unions have both tremendous influence under state law and millions of dollars in revenue, thanks to mandatory dues ("agency fee") clauses that are typically written into union contracts.

With powerful and well-financed unions to protect their interests, and generous wage and benefit packages, why do you think so many government employees are dissatisfied with their jobs? Is it possible that those unions are not really acting in those workers' best interests? Or that they are sowing dissatisfaction, intentionally or inadvertently?

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