Last week, Scott Walker, the newly elected Republican Governor of Wisconsin, introduced a budget bill that contained an increase on the costs of benefits to public employees and restricted their collective bargaining rights.
The bill was met with disdain, to say the least.
For the past week, protests have been occurring in Wisconsin's capital, Madison, where the governor has faced some rather harsh criticisms.
Protestors take issue not only with the increased amount of money that state workers would have to pay toward their pensions and health insurance plans, but also with the bargaining rights they would lose under Walker's proposal.
Under the plan, unions would no longer have the right to agree or disagree with a proposal before it takes effect. Essentially, they would have no leg to stand on.
Many have argued that this act would restrict the rights of state employees and unions in a manner that is unacceptable.
At The Spectrum, we agree with this sentiment.
To put it rather bluntly, Walker is making it so unions can no longer operate as unions. He is taking away all of their power, and essentially forcing them to accept any piece of legislation he wants them to. State employees would have their bargaining rights thrown out the window.
When faced with criticism of this proposal, he has pointed out that Wisconsin, like many states, is struggling in the aftermath of the recession, and needs to take money from other sources.
While we understand the pain the recession has caused, we still believe Walker is in the wrong here. Quite simply, unions deserve to have rights whether the state is broke or not. A governor can't just do whatever he wants because a state needs money. Unions need to be able to accept or reject a proposal.
One moment that was particularly telling during all this was when Walker stated that even if the unions did agree to the increased health care and pension contributions he is proposing, he still wouldn't be satisfied unless they gave up their bargaining rights as well.
This would suggest that Walker doesn't just want to save money; he also wants to take away rights from state workers.
In this instance, he is abusing his power, and if he wants a quality budget to be passed, he will need to compromise on this issue. Walker's desire to trim money from the budget is understandable, but this is the wrong way to do it. He should work with the unions to create a plan everyone can agree on.
