There's someone at the door who would like to see you...

...and would like to know what you are doing in there.

Entrance question: So, what exactly would a strike entail?

Since it’s Labor Day, it’s a good opportunity to see what Big Labor is up to these days.

Kathy Keith has cared for a son with Down syndrome for 23 years and never dreamed that one day organized labor would consider her a prime candidate for a union card.

So she was skeptical when representatives from two of the nation's largest unions began competing for her attention over the last few weeks with unannounced visits to her home, mailings and phone messages promising to fatten her state stipend.

The Bartlett resident is among about 3,000 people who receive state funding to assist someone at home with a developmental disability. As a result of an executive order signed by Gov. Pat Quinn in June that allows collective bargaining by "individual providers of home-based support services," unions are now trying to sign them up in an unusual effort to boost membership.

The move has left some care providers angry and confused. Many are mothers, fathers or close relatives who are caring for loved ones, advocates say.

"Are you saying I can go on strike and not wipe my son's rear end?" Keith said, questioning if union membership would pit her interests against her son's.

The two unions in question are the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and an outfit you may have heard of before, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as ballots will soon be sent out in the mail.

Caregivers who don’t vote or expressly reject representation by either will be given another choice to become members of either SEIU or AFSCME depending on the ballot count winner. And even then, if they still decline representation then, well, you might as well sign up because you will be charged a “fair share” dues anyway, according to union representation.

The article touches on it but doesn’t fully address why is it that two government employee unions are attempting to represent private citizens or the in-home help of those citizens. Merely accepting a government stipend makes one a govvy?

Unannounced visits to your house (how the unions got the addresses of these residents is something else that is not addressed in article). The specter of union regulations imposing on the care of your loved one. The privilege of paying union dues to a union you do not even belong to… what’s not to like about all this?

So, for their never-ending quest to swell the ranks of their membership by means no matter how unseemly or questionable and for motives that remain unclear, on this Labor Day of 2009, we salute you, Big Labor!

H/T: Secular Apostate