MARK MCKINNON: Do We Still Need Unions? No. “The primary purpose of public unions today, as ugly as it sounds, is to work against the financial interests of taxpayers: the more public employees are paid in wages and uncapped benefits, the less taxpayers keep of the money they earn. It’s time to call an end to the privileged class. And the White House makes a mistake if it thinks it can grow a manufactured and uncivil unrest into a popular movement.” It’s a big leap from We’ve got to protect our phoney-baloney jobs to you’ve got to protect our phoney-baloney jobs.