By: Daniel Nardini
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker may have survived a recall election, but he clearly lost on one of his most important political centerpieces—eliminating bargaining rights for unions. In a ruling by Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas, the state law that bans bargaining rights for city, town and county as well as private employees is unconstitutional by both state and federal law. While it does not help state employees affected by this law, it is important to note that the ruling effectively strikes down the Wisconsin’s state law that prohibits union collective bargaining. Unions in Wisconsin and across the country have hailed this decision as a victory. It clearly is a victory for the unions that brought a lawsuit against the State of Wisconsin over this law. Governor Walker will appeal the ruling. This ruling effectively means that Wisconsin’s state law banning collective bargaining rights is null and void. Despite this, Walker vows to keep the law.
It just has not occurred to Walker and the largely Republican-dominated state legislature that their actions are illegal and they cannot accept the judgement of their own state courts. Walker went so far as to call the judge who issued the ruling a “liberal activist.” This is why there were major protests in the state capital Madison in 2010. This is why a recall vote was not only instituted but also nearly succeeded in unseating Walker from his office this year. This is why the State of Wisconsin is still a dangerously divided state politically. It is all because of Scott Walker and his extremist Republican allies. Instead of trying to work with unions, his Democratic opponents, and trying to find solutions to the state debt and problems Wisconsin is experiencing, he went out on a witch hunt against “liberal enemies” and “the big powerful unions.” If the unions were indeed as powerful as he claimed, Walker would have lost his job in 2010. Fact is unions were a target of his because they were and still are vulnerable to attack from largely Republican extremists and also from corporate businesses whom Walker represents.
He also went after the unions because they represent many of Wisconsin’s racial and ethnic minorities like African Americans and Latinos and Native Americans. Unions represent ordinary people such as sanitation workers, maids, teachers, hotel workers, city and town employees, restaurant workers, etc. The unions represent the working class people, and Walker and his ilk has proven especially hateful against ordinary working joes and janes. And in too many cases the unions are the first and last lines of protection for such working people. The unions may be the only protection ordinary people have. The fight may be far from over, but at least it is no small victory that the high and mighty have not yet been able to take away the workplace rights of people who try to make an honest living.
A Victory for Bargaining Rights in Wisconsin
By: Daniel Nardini
It just has not occurred to Walker and the largely Republican-dominated state legislature that their actions are illegal and they cannot accept the judgement of their own state courts. Walker went so far as to call the judge who issued the ruling a “liberal activist.” This is why there were major protests in the state capital Madison in 2010. This is why a recall vote was not only instituted but also nearly succeeded in unseating Walker from his office this year. This is why the State of Wisconsin is still a dangerously divided state politically. It is all because of Scott Walker and his extremist Republican allies. Instead of trying to work with unions, his Democratic opponents, and trying to find solutions to the state debt and problems Wisconsin is experiencing, he went out on a witch hunt against “liberal enemies” and “the big powerful unions.” If the unions were indeed as powerful as he claimed, Walker would have lost his job in 2010. Fact is unions were a target of his because they were and still are vulnerable to attack from largely Republican extremists and also from corporate businesses whom Walker represents.
He also went after the unions because they represent many of Wisconsin’s racial and ethnic minorities like African Americans and Latinos and Native Americans. Unions represent ordinary people such as sanitation workers, maids, teachers, hotel workers, city and town employees, restaurant workers, etc. The unions represent the working class people, and Walker and his ilk has proven especially hateful against ordinary working joes and janes. And in too many cases the unions are the first and last lines of protection for such working people. The unions may be the only protection ordinary people have. The fight may be far from over, but at least it is no small victory that the high and mighty have not yet been able to take away the workplace rights of people who try to make an honest living.