01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, July 24, 2004

LABOR LEADERS recently attacked Governor Carcieri and The Journal with musings on the fictional character Don Quixote ("Editorialists and Carcieri vs. the people," by George Nee, Commentary, June 17). While great literary fiction lifts the soul, economic fiction destroys families and societies. And economic fiction is what Mr. Nee promotes.

As unions demagogue the issues, let's -- once again -- bring the debate back to facts that working families live with every day.

The unions say they represent working people. Test that claim with this nonfiction test. If you are a working person or retired working person, has your work environment included:

Annual salary increases up to 12 percent?

Automatic increases simply for showing up, not based on merit?

Additional longevity bonuses, just for showing up?

No-layoff provisions?

Seniority valued more than expertise or organizational need?

Zero co-payments on insurance premiums?

Eleven weeks of paid time off per year?

A pension equal to 60 to 80 percent of your salary for the rest of your life, starting immediately after retirement and with as little as 28 years of service, regardless of your age?

Today, state- and local-government employees and teachers receive some combination of the above terms, paid for by working people, single parents, and retirees, many of whom earn nothing close to those terms.

Welcome to tax-hell Rhode Island, where we have the fourth-highest total tax burden out of the 50 states and still live with budget deficits and mediocre public education. The economic model of punishing most taxpayers to reward a politically powerful few cannot yield a state that promotes justice, opportunity and jobs.

Unions claim they are unfairly blamed. But outrageous contract terms did not occur in a vacuum. They happened because unions first demanded them, and spineless politicians and bureaucrats caved in to them.

These terms are the dirty little secret of government. Unions and their partners in government thrive by being largely invisible to taxpayers. That invisibility is finally being destroyed now -- and that explains their vehement reactions.

Decades ago, unions played an important role in our society. Now, they are just another big business, albeit with one important difference. When a corporation overprices its products, competitors move in and provide a better value to consumers. Demands by private-sector unions are limited by economic competition. Rhode Island public-employee unions understand the public sector is devoid of similar competition, allowing them to take their gravy-train ride at the expense of working families through political power.

When they threaten people or embark on a happy-talk public-relations campaign, we should all bring the debate back to the real world of contract terms. That will make it clear that what unions advocate is a strategy for reducing your family's standard of living.

The rest of us live in a competitive, pay-for-performance world. Public-sector unions need to live like the rest of us, the people who pay their salaries. It is all we ask. It is all Governor Carcieri has been suggesting.

Even so, this debate is about more than current taxation levels and today's family budgets. It is about freedom and opportunity for all -- and family budgets in the future. The greatness of our country is that people can live the American dream through the power of education and hard work.

High taxation and mediocre public education create a disincentive for new-business formation in Rhode Island. That means fewer new jobs, and less of a chance for working people to realize the American dream. It also means people have an economic incentive to leave the state -- and the ones who can afford to do so will continue to leave.

Unfortunately, the ones who cannot afford to leave are the people who can least afford the crushing blow of high taxation and mediocre education. The status quo dooms these families to an ongoing decline in their standard of living. That is unjust.

The unions have political power on their side today. They will, no doubt, win some short-term battles. But, like all those clinging to untenable economic models, they are on the wrong side of history and will lose the war over time. The only question is how much economic pain they will inflict on the state's residents along the way.

We are at a crossroads in Rhode Island. If we tackle issues now, a turnaround with only some pain is possible. If we delay, we will doom multiple generations of working families and retirees to further tax hell and a reduction in their standard of living. That is wrong.

This public debate is about breaking the chains of bondage and giving all citizens the freedom to live the American dream here in Rhode Island. What greater legacy can we leave for our children than a fair shot at the American dream here in their state?

The number of freedom fighters is growing, so please join this noble cause. Let's tear down this wall of economic fiction, and let freedom ring out across the state. Let's make Rhode Island a vibrant land of freedom and opportunity, for all working families.

Donald B. Hawthorne is a former member of the East Greenwich School Committee.