WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb. 26 (DPI) – Wisconsin Governor and presidential hopeful Scott Walker is taking on his state’s public sector unions again, seeking new Right To Work laws that weaken public workers groups’ standing before the politicians with whom they negotiate their compensation.
Walker may be blazing some new political trails in Wisconsin, but nationally, at least on comment boards of major news sites, the governor is hardly admired and revered. Indeed, the long-awaited reform of public-sector unions seems to proceed in spite of Walker’s leadership, comment boards suggest. As some of the posts on nytimes.com, of nearly 800 comments, declared:
The idea that someone like Scott Walker could ever be a presidential candidate of serious consideration is appalling to me. I can only hope that this man will go the way of Rick Perry when he hits the national stage.
Why is this strategy working so well for Walker? Is Wisconsin such a red state? It’s very disturbing that he’s been helped, not hurt, by union-busting. Am I missing something? Are the unions in Wisconsin particularly corrupt? How and why are they losing this debate?
They are losing the debate, of course, because legions of private-sector workers increasingly feel they are paying for the public workers’ job security, generous health benefits and old-fashioned pensions.
Even The New York Times is conceding that the reforms in Wisconsin are inevitable, suggesting that the problem was so large that even an unpopular and barely respected governor could secure the support for the reforms he sought.
None of the 111 comments thus far address a fundamental issue: Should unions have a right to confiscate part of the wages of people who do not want to join the union? I do not think that they do.