Labor/Constitutional: A Moment to Chime in on Collective Bargaining Rights and the Situation in Wisconsin

First, I will, for once, quote Ronald Reagan, who stated that “one of the most elemental human rights [is] the right to belong to a free trade union.”  See http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12392 for more on Reagan’s commentary.

We are presently witnessing an unprecedented assault upon workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain.  The assault is occurring most directly in long-time labor states, such as Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana.  Fortunately, these efforts to turn back the clock by over one-hundred years is not going unchallenged.  Brave teacher, fire fighters, police officers, and other public employees are staging a vigorous fight to safeguard their rights to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, job safety, and other core employment rights.

Wisconsin is apparently the “ground zero” for this fight, with its newly-elected Governor, Scott Walker, staging a battle to forsake all such workers rights.  Walker is, apparently, controlled by others — including the Koch Brothers:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/23/scott-walker-buffalo-beast-phone-prank_n_827058.html.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Koch Brothers, they have almost single-handedly financed the Tea Party movement, and bankrolled several extreme candidates including, apparently, Mr. Walker.  The article above details the startling nature of Walker’s control by such interests, and the extremes to which he is willing to stoop in order to undermine worker rights.  Perhaps Mr. Walker, who pays homage to Ronald Reagan in his recent phone conference with the blogger posing as David Koch, should become more familiar with his hero’s philosophy on workers’ rights.

Unfortunately, I do not believe that there can be compromise on these core principles of our democracy.  Those such as the Kochs and Walker are positioning themselves at such an extreme level, that there is no possible response other than opposition.  Also, please continue to ask yourselves — when we are giving billions of dollars of handouts to large corporations, including those responsible for undermining our national economic well-being — that the target shifts to employees who provide us with our essential public services?  This trend, as it continues, continues to greatly disturb me for the future of our Nation.