Wisconsin Governor Threatens To Replace Union Workers With National Guard

[Richard Cranium]

This would be AWESOME!!!    


State workers in Wisconsin are protesting a statement by Governor Scott Walker that, union reps say, amounts to a threat to use the National Guard to help break the public union.

Citing a $137 million budget deficit, Walker announced a plan last week which would essentially take away the public union's collective bargaining rights and slash benefits for state employees. Meanwhile, the share of corporate tax revenue funding the state government has fallen by half since 1981 and, according to Wisconsin Department of Revenue, two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes.

In the case of a walkout, Walker has put the National Guard on alert. Last week, he told reporters that the guard is "prepared" for "whatever the governor, their commander-in-chief, might call for," such as staffing prisons if guards go on strike.

Wisconsin is one of a number of states facing severe budget cuts and difficult choices. But as Bloomberg News points out, the biggest savings Walker is proposing have nothing to do with state workers or collective bargaining. Walker claims the state can save $165 million by the end of next June simply by restructuring existing debt.

"I'm just trying to balance my budget," Mr. Walker told the New York Times last week. "To those who say why didn't I negotiate on this? I don't have anything to negotiate with. We don't have anything to give. Like practically every other state in the country, we're broke. And it's time to pay up."

The Republican Party of Wisconsin has said that Walker's plan will save Wisconsin $30 million over the next three months and $300 million over the next two years.

Union leaders and labor scholars don't think Walker's move to crush the union is about the deficit.
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[elacruze]

Union leaders and labor scholars don't think Walker's move to crush the union is about the deficit.
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Union leaders and labor scholars are universally Buffoons with zero knowledge of economics and zero motivation to learn any.

[PocketThunder]

Some of my friends and even my sister-in-law are teachers in Wisconsin and they are all up in arms about this.  Well, too fucking bad!  Who do they think pays for all this?  Santa Claus?  The Easter bunny?  If they dont want to work and go on strike well then go ahead, there are 10 more Wisconsin residents standing in line who would love to have each one of their jobs.  

Paul

[ITSA426]

It's good to see so many on this site are not working class people.  I haven't heard a single elected official offer to give up his/her government funded pension yet.  In congress, pay raises are now automatic.

A lot of working people just don't realize what side they are on.  Study your own history!

If you don't think your job is worth protecting, outsource it.  There are 1,000 people in other countries looking for your job no matter how indispensable you think you are in it.  Even doctors and lawyers are finding that out now as medical and legal opinions are e-mailed.

[Brock Samson]

  I think you should go there and just shoot them,..  

[elacruze]

It's good to see so many on this site are not working class people.  I haven't heard a single elected official offer to give up his/her government funded pension yet.  In congress, pay raises are now automatic.

A lot of working people just don't realize what side they are on.  Study your own history!

If you don't think your job is worth protecting, outsource it.  There are 1,000 people in other countries looking for your job no matter how indispensable you think you are in it.  Even doctors and lawyers are finding that out now as medical and legal opinions are e-mailed.

If you have some notion that Unions protect jobs, it's plain you haven't been around them very much, or tried to make use of them. I'm not certain by your post which side you're on?