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In what is best described as a low-key but frank assessment of Wisconsin’s perilous fiscal condition, Governor Scott Walker delivered his budget address to those members of the state legislature that attended the session. Fourteen Democrat State Senators remained out of state, continuing their boycott of the democratic process. Judging by the tone of his voice and his demeanor, Mr. Walker gave no indication whatsoever that such antics would prove effective.
“Democracy does not just expect differences, it demands them,” said Walker.
It’s the manner in which we discuss and resolve those differences that leads to bold solutions and innovative reforms. I ask that we continue to be mindful of our differences–as well our similarities–in the coming days, weeks and months. Above all, let us not lose sight of the fact that we were each elected to represent the people of this state by participating in our democratic process.
Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have lost sight of the fact they represent all the people of Wisconsin, not just the public service unions. Yet as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reveals, such “loyalty” may be due to the fact that “one out of every five campaign dollars received by the 14 Wisconsin Democratic senators who have fled the state to protect union influence came from public-sector workers and their labor representatives.” Of the $1.9 million raised by these Senators since 2007, “at least $344,000 came from union and public sector employees.” The newspaper also notes that the total could be even higher because “the occupations of those donating less than $100 go unspecified.” The paper further reported that “one Democratic senator, Spencer Coggs of Milwaukee, received about two-thirds of his campaign dollars from public-sector workers and their unions.” (italics mine)
Perhaps this reality is why Governor Walker has proposed to get the state out of the business of collecting union dues from the checks of state workers, as well as making those dues optional for the workers themselves. While most of the media has been focused on the limiting of collective bargaining for salary increases as the key sticking point between Democrats and Republicans, this particular aspect of reform is far more critical.
A mandatory dues structure allows a union to collect money from its members, even those members who may have political leanings that are diametrically opposed to those of the union bosses, and fund candidates who are also opposed to their interests. (In Wisconsin, even public employees who don’t belong to a union are forced to make “fair share” payments, which unions claim are necessary because those workers benefit from collective bargaining.) By having government collect the dues, they are making that government an integral part of the Democrat campaign fund raising apparatus, irrespective of which party is in power. Since the Wisconsin state legislature and the governor’s office are currently controlled by Republicans, this means they are literally collecting dues that will be used to defeat them in a future election.
More importantly, by making dues optional, it will be revealed exactly where union members–as opposed to union bosses–stand, not just with respect to one political party or another, but with the unions themselves. It has long been part of the prevailing “wisdom” that union members march in lockstep with their leadership, no questions asked. Yet if that were truly the case, and union bosses were confident that their members would continue to pay the hundreds of dollars a year in dues that are now required, why would they care if dues were mandatory or not? What is being revealed by their resistance to such a proposal is a fear that the “solidarity” touted by union bosses is far from solid, and that their concern for the “rights of the working man” is based on coercion rather than the cultivation of good will among their members.
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