My home state of Oregon has completed its sale of workers’ rights to the Service Employees International Union. A weak Gov. Ted Kulongoski seeking re-election collected his prize in the lucrative support of SEIU and its government union allies heading into November. His payoff to SEIU was both swift and terrible for the rights of adult foster-care workers.

Steve Law, who has been covering the issue well at the Salem Statesman Journal, reports:

The measure was controversial because the providers are small-business owners, and any workers they hire aren’t eligible for the union.

That wasn’t the only reason it was controversial — the process was carried out without even letting workers vote in a real election. Instead, the governor allowed his special interest patrons to “commence collective bargaining with the state and bypass a union-recognition election” because he recognized an anti-democratic “card check” drive by SEIU officials.

Then there’s the final kicker:

Passage of SB 858-B makes Kulongoski’s executive order permanent. And it grants SEIU the right to collect “fair share” payments in lieu of union dues from bargaining unit members who don’t want to join the union.