The Wisconsin recall election of Republican Gov. Scott Walker is not going quite like the unions and the Democratic Party expected. Back in 2011, many pundits thought that the governor had overreached when he took on public employee unions, restricting — though not eliminating — collective bargaining rights. But he did so because he inherited a state in dire financial shape with a deficit of $3.6 billion and public employee pensions and benefits that threatened to bankrupt the state.
When a Republican-controlled legislature tried to pass legislation to rein in the abuses, Democratic representatives literally fled the state to make a vote impossible. As a result of some clever parliamentary footwork that separated fiscal items in the bill so that a quorum would not be required to pass the legislation, Walker managed to get the bill passed. The unions sued, unsuccessfully, and the bill became law, incurring the wrath of Wisconsin's powerful unions — public and private sector. They launched a successful recall petition drive and, for awhile, it looked like Walker might pay for his temerity with his job.
The latest polls in the state show Walker in the lead against his opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, by 5-8 points. What's more, Walker has raised vastly more funds than Barrett, some $25 million to Barrett's $831,000 (though unions and Democratic groups will spend much more on his behalf). But the real problem for Barrett is that Walker's medicine, though unpleasant for many union members, has helped bring the state's economy back to a more healthy position.
Even in a heavily union state like Wisconsin, union membership is tiny compared to the total labor force. And when it comes to public employees, most taxpayers realize that they are actually footing the bill for salaries and benefits, which more often than not exceed their own.
When many workers have no health insurance, they may feel chagrined at having to fork over more taxes to pay for Cadillac policies for union members whose own healthcare contributions are much smaller. When most employees get two weeks paid vacation if they're lucky, they may resent paying full time salaries to teachers who work only nine months a year and spend only five hours a day in the classroom with weeklong holidays, professional development and snow days off.
It's still possible for the Democrats and unions to pull off a victory if they are more successful at voter turnout than the Republicans.
Unions are more than willing to bend the rules when it comes to spending union dues to get out non-union voters. The state can expect a huge influx of out-of-state union staff to work on getting out the vote — they're already there in big numbers.
And it's likely that the Democrats will revert to some old tried-and-true tactics to get unlikely voters to the polls. In 2000, some Democratic operatives handed out cigarettes to homeless people for voting. This year, both sides have been accused of offering people food in return for voting early in the recall election. And so-called "walking around money" — actual cash surreptitiously passed to voters, which is illegal — is a problem with a long history in politics.
One advantage Walker may have, however, is that early voting — once touted as a boon to get more disadvantaged, Democratic-leaning voters to participate — hasn't always worked out that way. It's true that Democratic operatives can visit nursing homes and "help" elderly voters to fill out their mail-in ballots or other places, like homeless shelters, where they're more likely to get extra votes for Democratic candidates who promise more social benefits. But making voting somewhat easier has also made it possible for busy, gainfully employed or more affluent retired people to participate in higher numbers, which favors the GOP.
If Walker does survive the recall election June 5, it will put the state of Wisconsin in political play for the GOP in the presidential election. It seemed unlikely that Wisconsin, which went for President Obama by 14 points in 2008, would be a tossup this year. But the Republican base has been energized by the unions' attempt to oust Walker. Independents, and even some fiscally conservative Democrats, may also jump ship from Obama in the fall. If so, the electoral map looks better for Mitt Romney, which is why some in the Obama campaign are worried that their friends in the labor movement may have overreached.
Linda Chavez is the author of "An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal." To find out more about Linda Chavez, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM
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Ma'am.... The unions are but a fraction of the people trying to represent the most intelligent and able of the working class... Excluding the IWW, it was never intended for unions to represent all the working class to the capitalist class... The American Labor Movement did for America what the Romans did for themselves in order to rule: They divided the people... But; it was not their job to unite the people... It was the job of the Government to be our union, to seek a more perfect union...All that the preamble sets as the task of government it has failed at, and it was for poor pitiful unions to pick up, against the will of the government the tasks the government has neglected...
Every successful method the unions have found to bring employers to the bargaining table has been found unconstitutional, and so workers are left with what business will give them, or the choice to walk away from the means of production and their jobs, leaving them open for others...The failure of the government, and the failures of the unions to do what government should do and does not, is no reflection on the need for justice in our dealings with others...Government that does not support the worker's need for justice and for honor in employment finds now that it cannot be supported by workers on the wages which will not support them... As the unions find their pension funds pilfered by the lords of risky investment, they find that the government has borrowed against their national pension fund, and underfunded it rather than tax the only people left with any money...
For all practical purposes; it does not matter whether there is a union or not, and Mr. Walker's attack on the unions designed to divide the working people still more should be an education for all working people... There is no relationship of honor between bosses and employees... When the boss gets done milking the cow for all it is worth, it goes to the slaughter house, and that is what the employers want to see for us... We can drop dead now that we are unneeded... Just as in Dred Scott: The employees have no rights the employers need to respect...Instead, the kid gloves are off the mailed fist...
The continual charge of class warfare leveled at every worker who dared ask for justice with bowed head and hat in hand has now come to be revealed in its true character... There was war... There was always war, and the constitution was only a treaty of little value in that war... Where wealth rears its ugly head; there let nation be damned... Let justice and honor go hide and nurse their injuries... A new day is dawning a lot like many days past where only the lords and their pets can feel safe... Are we ready for Feudalism??? Are we ready to be made a nation of slaves???How we answer those question will determine our future...There is no better time than now to place the head of every would be king gently on the chopping block...Thanks...Sweeney
Comment: #1
Posted by: James A, Sweeney
Sat May 26, 2012 8:53 AM
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69853I don't know what the best solution is to the labor union dispute, but I firmly believe in the teaching of the Catholic Church in its encyclicals and pastoral letters of the bishops on labor and unions. I believe Mr. Sweeney is correct in his comments. So I will not repeat. My problem is with your description of the "easy" life of teachers -- full time salaries, working only 5 hours a day and 9 months out of the year, week long holidays, etc. You mention nothing about the hours put into class preparation, tests and correcting them, spending necessary hours after school in the classroom to tutor or do class preparation, preparing notes for parent-teacher conferences, calling parents to discuss failing students' problems, teaching summer school classes for students who need it, working on a master's degree during the year and also the summers, etc., dealing with special needs children while teaching the whole class at the same time. I have a sister who retired from teaching 3rd grade after about 25 years, and 2 teaching nieces, one who has been teaching in both Catholic and public schools for 26 years. All got post graduate degrees while teaching daily at the same time and summers. I spent 18 years as a missionary teaching religion to Catholic children, K-12, who attended public schools mainly in the Southwest. We drove to a different place every day, sometimes 6 days a week, often in places as many as 60-70 miles away. Evenings classes were held for high school students and teacher training. I, too, know how much time goes into lesson planning and the audiovisual that goes with it. In the evenings, I did teacher training, again driving to other places to do so. I spent my early summers teaching in places we couldn't reach during the school year. Later I earned a Master's degree in religious education during 8 summers. My second profession began after earning another MA in Library Science. That career included 16 years in two Catholic high schools as library director. Though I didn't have the same kind of class preparation the other faculty members had, I spent many hours after school doing what I couldn't get done during the school hours when I had to direct students in their research. But I was well aware of the tremendous work and hours after school put in by the faculty who were in the classroom. So I beg you to wake up, take notice of what goes into being a teacher and give them the appreciation they so well deserve. It is often a very rewarding profession being able to help so many people, but definitely not the easy life you seem to think.
Rita J Berg
Comment: #2
Posted by: Rita J Berg
Thu May 31, 2012 11:25 AM
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I sincerely hope you're right. Governor Walker has done what had to be done, and the unions are trying to punish him for that. From what I have learned about labor unions, their whole philosophy is un-Christian, un-democratic--relying on force. You either do it the union's way or you face severe consequences.
Comment: #3
Posted by: Norman Severance
Fri Jun 1, 2012 4:11 PM
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