Battle over union rights boils over
IN Lansing: Supporters of workers' rights hold signs outside the state Capitol at a protest in opposition to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's recent legislation on public workers' rights. About 2,000 attended the rally. / AL GOLDIS/Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The battle over unions -- public and private -- has been brewing for years. With the heat turned up by the recession, all it needed was a flashpoint to boil over.
It came with the 2010 elections, in which Republicans, many antagonistic to labor unions, won control of state legislatures and governor's mansions -- many in the Midwest.
The question then became whether battles would be focused on benefits that critics say were pricey giveaways during Democratic control, or whether emboldened Republicans would declare all-out war on labor.
Last week, protests reached a crescendo in Wisconsin and Ohio over efforts to end state workers' collective-bargaining rights that some argue brought some states to the brink.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has said repeatedly he has no interest in tampering with collective-bargaining rights. Even so, Michigan unionists rallied in Lansing last week and Saturday against bills they say amount to union-busting.
In Madison, Wis., Katrina Ladopoulous, an area teacher, skipped school to take her 4-year-old son to daily rallies at the Capitol.
"If we don't stand strong here, bargaining rights will fall," she said.
Union battle goes national
WASHINGTON -- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is willing to make enemies: His budget plan picks more than its share of political fights. But his decision to stay out of a growing national fight over whether public employeesshould be able to negotiate hours and benefits, go on strike and otherwise collectively bargain may be wiser than he knows.
Michigan has a bigger percentage of workers who are union members -- 16.5% -- than all but California, Connecticut, New Jersey and Washington state in the continental U.S., according to the AFL-CIO.
Snyder is asking for concessions, and he's supportive of legislation that would give emergency fiscal managers appointed to oversee municipal finances the power to break contracts. But, as draconian as those measures might be seen among labor's friends, they are a far cry from what has been proposed in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, where more fundamental questions about the right to collectively bargain are being asked.
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