Gloves off in Wisconsin

on

The more we learn about Governor Walker of Wisconsin - well the more I don't like him.  He seemed o'k at first during election time and I followed the Wisconsin race a bit on an influential law blog from that state.  Now, truth be known, I don't have much use for him.

Seems that when he was the County Executive of Milwaukee county he got into something of a similar situation.  He fired all the union security guards in the Milwaukee Courthouse and government building area. His reason was that the union workers cost too much (sound familiar?) and it was his mandate to save money (sound familiar?).  So he got his way and fired all the union folks, broke the union's back (sound familiar?) and replaced them with Wackenhut Security.  Seems the guy who came in to run the show was also a convicted felon and that there, in the end, was no cost savings whatsoever.  The Union took him to court and the arbitrator said that the "fiscal emergency" created by Mr. Walker was a red herring - a straw dog - (sound familiar?) and not only did Milwaukee County have to reinstate the workers unjustly fired by Mr. Walker, they had to pay them the back wages and fire the Wackenhut guys and pay them a penalty for wrongful termination.

So Mr. Walker gets elected as Governor and he is into his union busting mode.  He fits well into the GOP mold of puppet governors who, if they want continued national big business money support, toe the line.

When this story first started nearly 2 weeks ago it was explained as the result of a fiscal catastrophe of epic scale. The State was bankrupt, the unions were killing the state, they had to go or locusts would descend and it would be the end times.  Seems the State wasn't bankrupt. Seems the unions are about 28th on the salary and benefit list of states and their pension system, well managed, wasn't in any trouble.

Seems that this is a straw dog manufactured by the national GOP who found a puppet with no ethics or values who could be persuaded to do the bidding of a master.

Noted.

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2011 at 9:39 AM

    As I understand it, Scott Walker has always espoused this conservative philosophy. He has always been re-elected and then went on and win the Govenorship. Therefore the majority of voters like what he does. Hmmmmmm, so who is out of sync???

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  2. Opus One MediaFebruary 22, 2011 at 9:47 AM

    who is to say that he EVER told the voters that he was going to play union buster. I looked at his platform and as many of his speeches I could and this wasn't on the table anywhere.

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  3. neversleepFebruary 23, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    I understand that Wisconsin has the strongest labor laws in the country. It was the first to allow public employees to unionize, and after 50 years, seeks to reverse the experiment. The leadership and more vocal members of Public Sector unions seem to have forgotten that the "bosses" are not the commissioners or the elected officials, but the people.

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  4. Garby Francis LeonMarch 19, 2012 at 6:08 AM

    you ever wonder what Wackenhut is all about? There's a pretty big story there - but almost no one is aware of the privatizing of ex-intelligence operatives, FBI retirees and right-wing parasites into a "private security" firm that suddenly is guarding all our nuclear facilities ...

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