Several weeks ago, several scrappy little labor unions banded together against big brother out in Wisconsin. Support grew until thousands of protesters piled into Madison, the state capital, to protest the attack on the very life blood of unions everywhere. Governor Scott Walker might just have overplayed his hand.
Walker went after the public sector unions using the state budget crisis as a reason for draconian measures that held union members accountable for a higher percent of health care and pension contribution. The union conceded and then Walker tried to take collective bargaining away from them. Like the gambler, he couldn’t walk away from the table and now he has a tiger by the tail. The 14 Democrats are still self-sequestered away so a quorum is not possible. Thousands of people from other unions have joined in solidarity with the Wisconsin public employees.
Walker must have thought that the growing sentiment of ‘blame the unions’ would be on his side. He was wrong. According to the New York Times:
Democrats and even some Republicans have said the attacks on unions could backfire by mobilizing labor to go all-out to defeat Republicans in the 2012 elections. “We need to win 25 seats to take back the House, and we need to re-energize our base, and Republican overreaching like this is definitely giving us a boost,” said Representative Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Actually, the opposite has happened. People who ordinarily would not be union backers have come to the defense of the Wisconsin public employees. Walker is seen as a bully. If a union loses its ability to have collective bargaining, it’s just a bunch of people with matching T-shirts. Walker went for union busting. It remains to be seen who will win the battle of Wisconsin. Regardless of who wins, Walker awoke a sleeping giant. The giant will not easily be pacified now.
Unions nationwide have had a breath of life pumped back into them and this time they have the backing of much of the American public. Walker should have been careful what he wished for.
I’ll say this much…if the Republicans give in and stop short of crushing the Unions, their goose is officially cooked.
“Democrats and even some Republicans have said the attacks on unions could backfire by mobilizing labor to go all-out to defeat Republicans in the 2012 elections.”
Great. Government of the unions, by the unions and for the unions. But what about the rest of us?
Waiting for the Republican leadership to step in. They have a lot of work to do for 2012 and this won’t help them. My guess is Walker will be told to compromise. Bill O’Reilly sees the need to do so and said so on F&F last Friday and stunned the curvy couch gang into silence. Taking on the middle class is not a wise move on anyone’s part. My observation of humanity is at some point people begin to look at how a thing is happening more that what is happening and that colors the entire issue. The discussion in Wisconsin has moved from “it’s a budget thing” to “it’s a union thing” to “it’s not the right (way) thing”.
A key component of project management plan is to manage expectation.
Unions are slowing dying – the leadership of most has been outted over and over again as being corrupt…. but a few politicians and a few businessmen cramming it down the throats of the workers is not going to work. A plan to slowly step down the role and authority of unions would give those involved a chance to adjust their expectations. Don’t kid yourself into believing the Scott Walker and Koch Brothers of the world have your best interest at heart. They don’t. And if the ‘trickle down’ theory is going to be employed as good for us………….
It looks like unions just got a shot in the arm that will carry them through another 20 years.
The Wisconsin move just looks like war on the middle class. When I first went to work, union people were more blue collar. Now looking and listening to these people, they are so middle class it becomes glaringly obvious. Nurses, EMTS, teachers, cops, firefighters are all out there. Occupations that used to be considered the pillars of the community.
This crew of R’s in Wisconsin has really overplayed their hand. This situation will serve as a battlel cry and a call to arms for many years, just like Stonewall was for the gay community.
Emma, I don’t want union rule any more than you do but unions generally go D and after this, I certainly see why!!!
@Emma
What about the rest of us? Maybe form a union! 😉
@Moon-howler
Unions may have gotten a :shot in the arm”, bt now they must maintain some sort of discipline lest they take this as a mandate to demand what they damned well please, which has been the problem in the past. Time will tell.
Oh I agree. Unions can be PITAS. As a rule, I am not a strong union backer. In this case, I am, however. Its the who and why.@George
@Slowpoke Rodriguez
Is it your opinion that the unions should be “crushed”? Hmmmm.
“Walker went after the public sector unions using the state budget crisis as a reason for draconian measures that held union members accountable for a higher percent of health care and pension contribution”
Uh, don’t look now but Democrat Governors (just look at NY for exhibit A) are now calling for the same types of things… It’s not a matter “draconian measures” put forth by evil Republicans, it’s about not having money.
Not really – the majority of the Wisconsin public employee budget was met. Implement a phased in approach. Wonder why Police and Fire were exempt from Walkers push??? I do.