|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 威斯康星允许雇员自由选择后，政府部门AFSCME工会成员人数下降了一半，教师工会
AFT人数下降1/3
Governor Walker's Victory Spells Doom For Public Sector Unions
Public sector unions have reached their high water mark. Let the cleanup
begin as the red ink recedes.
Despite a last-minute smear campaign accusing Scott Walker of fathering an
illegitimate love child, the governor’s recall election victory sends a
clear message that should resonate around the nation: The fiscal cancer
devouring state budgets has a cure, and he has found it. The costly defeat
for the entrenched union interests that tried to oust Walker in retribution
for challenging their power was marked by President Obama’s refusal to lend
his weight to the campaign for fear of being stained by defeat. We’ll see
how well this strategy of opportunistic detachment serves in the fall as
Obama reaches out to unions for support.
This fight is not without precedent. Progressive patron saint Franklin
Delano Roosevelt—who more than any other president set our country on a
course away from the founding principles of limited government—knew that
public sector unions would be the death of the social welfare state he
worked so hard to create. Hence, he consistently opposed allowing government
employees to unionize. Today, Greece sets the example of what happens when
public sector unions gain the upper hand.
In 1959 Wisconsin became the first state to allow collective bargaining by
government employees. The projected cost of supporting Baby Boomer union
retirees now threatens to bankrupt the state, as it does many others. Scott
Walker ran for office promising change. The fiscal medicine he is
administering may be bitter, but it looks like it is starting to work. The
state budget has been balanced. The unemployment rate has been dropping and
is now below the national average. Property taxes are down. Fraudulent sick
leave policies—which allowed employees to call in sick and then work the
next shift for overtime pay—have been ended. The government has stopped
forcibly collecting union dues from workers’ paychecks.
Best of all, the myth that union bosses represent their members’ interests
has been exposed as a lie. Now that union dues are voluntary, tens of
thousands of union members have stopped paying them. Membership in the
Wisconsin chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees union (AFSCME) has dropped by half. Membership in the state’s
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is down by over a third. Given unions
’ influential role in most elections, the national implications of this
trend are staggering.
Walker’s message is clear: The key to bringing balance back to public
sector labor relations and balance state budgets is to break the iron
triangle of closed-shop mandatory unionization, compulsory dues collection,
and oversized campaign donations to politicians that promise to do the
unions’ bidding. If other governors take his cue and take up the cause,
that giant sucking sound you hear will be the air coming out of union bosses
’ bloated political action budgets.
The work in Wisconsin is not complete. The controversial law exempted police
and firefighters, a political concession to get the legislation passed.
Federal courts have zeroed in on this anomaly, striking down certain
sections of the law because they do not treat workers equally. This needs to
be repaired— by rescinding the exemption for public safety workers. With
the recall election behind him, Walker may be sufficiently emboldened to do
just that.
The power of private sector unions was long ago broken by many heavily
unionized companies going bankrupt. While this was painful for both workers
and shareholders, the economy motored on as nimbler non-union competitors
picked up the slack. This approach is problematic for the public sector
because bankrupt state and local governments cannot be replaced by
competitors waiting in the wings. Yes, citizens can always vote with their
feet, emptying out cities like Detroit, leaving the blighted wreckage behind
. But isn’t Walker’s targeted fiscal retrenchment less painful than
scorched-earth abandonment?
Chicago machine candidate Barack Obama rode into office to the tune of Hail
to the Chief, promising the unions that backed him the gift of card check
elections, ending the secret ballot that shields employees from union
intimidation. He may well ride into retirement to the tune of On Wisconsin
as the era of closed shop unionism comes to an end. | h****g
发帖数: 2216 | 2 要说这wisconsin的州长，算记还是很精准的。去年他明知道可以通过修改法案的方法
来对付民主党的全体缺席，但就是拖着不办，让工会好好表演了一番。然后在州参议院
recall之前通过新的选举地图。
不过话说回来，工会是自找的。08年初选的时候干什么去了。
retribution
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: 威斯康星允许雇员自由选择后，政府部门AFSCME工会成员人数下降了一半，教师工会
: AFT人数下降1/3
: Governor Walker's Victory Spells Doom For Public Sector Unions
: Public sector unions have reached their high water mark. Let the cleanup
: begin as the red ink recedes.
: Despite a last-minute smear campaign accusing Scott Walker of fathering an
: illegitimate love child, the governor’s recall election victory sends a
: clear message that should resonate around the nation: The fiscal cancer
: devouring state budgets has a cure, and he has found it. The costly defeat
: for the entrenched union interests that tried to oust Walker in retribution
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
