Last week, thousands of protestors gathered in Wisconsin's Capitol Square to protest newly elected Gov. Scott Walker's new budget plan, which proposes cuts to the pay and benefits of many government employees and severely limits the collective bargaining abilities of labor unions. A week later, the protestors are still there — an Internet movement has even led hundreds of supporters across the country to order pizzas for the Wisconsin demonstrators.
Walker is trying to push through his budget in the name of austerity at a time when state governments are facing unprecedented shortfalls. But the Wisconsin governor last month passed a tax-cut bill through the legislature that — though it does not go into effect this year — certainly does not seem to reflect his desire for a balanced budget sheet.
Labor unions were willing to compromise. The plan called for government employees to accept a cut in their take-home pay due to new requirements that would force them to channel more money into their pensions and health care premiums. Though far from ideal, these reductions may be necessary, and the workers recognized that. According to the nonpartisan Politifact.com, public employees would still be better off than their counterparts in the private sector.
The limitation on collective bargaining abilities, however, is a step too far. One protestor, Paul Aird, said that the budget plan amounted to "union busting." This description seems more than accurate. Collective bargaining allows unions to negotiate working conditions with an employer. Losing this ability would be like returning to the days of the Industrial Revolution, when employers had complete control over their workers. Unions' ability to enter into collective bargaining agreements is the only way individual workers can protect themselves from their employers. Limiting collective bargaining is an unacceptable tool for closing state budget gaps, and it is a morally disgraceful tactic.
The political motivations behind the governor's budget plan are equally obvious. "What's happening in Wisconsin right now is not about a budget," liberal commentator Rachel Maddow said on her MSNBC show last Friday. "This is about elections. This is about the Republican Party going after the institutions that make it possible for Democrats to win elections in America." Maddow was referring to the fact that a considerable portion of campaign money raised by Democrats — much more than Republicans — comes from labor unions. The governor's budget plan is not only an attack on labor unions, but also an attack on the Democratic Party itself.
Still, Republicans are not the only ones who have mishandled this issue. In an attempt to stall the bill, 14 Democratic senators fled Wisconsin for Illinois, leaving only 19 senators, all Republicans, present in Wisconsin. Wisconsin requires 20 senators to be present for votes on fiscal matters. No matter how preposterous the governor's proposed budget is, running away is certainly not an appropriate response. It is, in fact, childish. Wisconsin needs its senators to fight against Walker's proposed measure, not duck responsibility. If Democrats truly believe that this issue is as much of an outrage as they claim it is, they need to stand up and face it head on, as thousands of state employees have in the Wisconsin Capitol building, not run away like scared children.
Walker's plan for Wisconsin's budget has the potential to induce an enormous amount of change, both economically and politically. The fiscal problems faced by state governments are grave, and negotiations about how to close the budget gaps should be accordingly serious. But union workers, the pawns in this game, should not be sacrificed.
