The Way I See It!

National Implications

Posted by Randy Hollenbeck on June 1, 2011

Scott Walker, Wisconsin

From The Wisconsin State Journal

There are still slightly more privately employed union members in Wisconsin than there are public sector union members.  But in 2009, for the first time, the number of public union members in the U.S. surpassed those in the private sector.

As a result, Walker's collective bargaining law may end up having even more significance outside of the state than in it if lawmakers in other states follow his lead.

Already, Ohio lawmakers have passed a law that goes farther than Wisconsin's.  And the National Conference of State Legislatures says more than 700 bills affecting labor unions and collective bargaining have been introduced in nearly every state, most relating to public sector unions.

Before publicly unveiling the measure, Walker privately compared the bargaining legislation to President Ronald Reagan's 1981 firing of 11,000 air traffic controllers.  Observers say it's an apt analogy, since Reagan's move is said to have emboldened private businesses to close up union shops and open nonunion operations in other states or countries.

"(Reagan's action) was really symbolically important because it delegitimized labor unions as actors in the labor market, and the real importance nationally in Wisconsin is it will symbolize for other conservative governors the feasibility of breaking public sector unions," said Western, of Harvard University.  "Until this, for many governors, public sector unions were often a pain in the neck to deal with.  What Walker is doing is challenging that."

Full article and Source here