Government Unions
An interview in Budget & Tax news from the Heartland Institute covers the issue of government unions and their influence in politics. This paragraph states the problem about as succinctly can be put:
As far as I’m concerned labor unions, particularly public-sector unions, are the driving force behind the growth of government and, therefore, taxes. The reason is obvious. So long as approximately 37 percent of all public employees are union dues payers, the unions have a strong motive to grow the size of government.
But that isn’t the only reason, there is a political one as well:
But the reason is really more complex than that. Most union officials, unlike most union members, are very liberal. Liberals tend to see government as the solution to problems rather than the cause of them. For a liberal union official–put aside the question of increased membership and dues for the moment–there is something inherently good about big government.
Many aspects of the long standing government-union collaborationa are covered in this interview as well as some of the history of how it came about.