Take the “Sin” Out of Wisconsin

By now, we have all heard the hideous news. While it may not have completely sunk in, we have all heard it, we have all processed it, and we are understandably sickened by it.

Wisconsin, one of America’s great “progressive” states (yes, it had Joe McCarthy, but it also had Robert LaFollette, William Proxmire and Russ Feingold), and the first state to allow (in 1959) public sector employees to engage in collective bargaining, recently became the 25th state to adopt right-to-work legislation. Given Wisconsin’s illustrious history, it’s a crying shame.

*This was nothing more than knee-to-the-groin Republican politics. It was pushed through by Governor Scott Walker and his state assembly in order to deflect money away from organized labor because, as everyone knows, Big Labor contributes heavily to the Democrats. Big Labor helps Democrats get elected, and Republicans hate that. Claiming this was anything more noble than a political power-play is disingenuous."

Shockingly, Wisconsin’s right-to-work legislation is going allow them to get all this stuff handed to them, without having to pay for it. Even more shocking is the fact that, with Michigan and Wisconsin having so readily capitulated, this right-to-work fever is going to spread. The only thing that can stop it is repeal of all or portions of the Taft-Hartley Act (1947), and we know that ain’t going to happen.

When the next state surrenders, it will mean that the U.S. now has a right-to-work majority. And there can be no doubt that more states will be throwing in the towel. Those who think Ohio and Pennsylvania are sacrosanct are kidding themselves. Indeed, the last four holdouts are likely to be New York, California, Hawaii and Alaska. Who the hell would ever have thought that?"

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/03/12/take-the-sin-out-of-wisconsin/