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Move against unions music to Republicans
[The Nation (Nairobi)] A state governor in the US is wielding a Margaret Thatcher-type hatchet against labour unions. The move might seem local, but it's a cog in an undefined political machine against the holder of the highest office in the land.Ms Thatcher, a Tory Prime Minister in Britain for 12 years beginning 1979, nearly annihilated the British labour unions. They certainly had become unruly. Railway workers, for example, once went on strike because a train schedule interfered with the 10 o'clock tea break. Labour unions in the US haven't gone the British labour unions' ways of yore. It's certainly not the case in the state of Wisconsin. There, Governor Scott Walker has faced pro-union protesters longer than Libya's Muammar Qadaffy has disaffected citizens. Ironically, labour or related issues don't feature in the dispute. Mr Walker has a problem balancing the books, which most states do. To fix the problem, the governor has proposed legislation that includes withdrawing collective bargaining rights for public employees. Unionised public employees in Wisconsin and several states include teachers and police. Wisely, Mr Walker has exempted law enforcement workers. Even with that, the state police association considers his attempt to get officers to evict protesters from the capital "insanely wrong." Labour union membership in the US has declined from the peak in the 1950s. This is not so though in the public employees sector. Teachers come to mind. These unions don't just deal with wages and working hours. With like-minded organisations, they agitate on public issues from soup to nuts, to use a dinnertime saying. Political parties and individual politicians court them. For historical reasons, labour unions in the US generally support the Democratic Party. They provide funding. When it comes to elections, they provide foot soldiers and deliver voters to poll. Mr Walker, like governor supporters, is a Republican. He came to office in last year's wave against the Democratic Party, or so it seemed. The Democratic and Republican parties have ideological differences. What has Walker's proposals have to do with this? Well, Obama faces re-election late next year. By all accounts, most states facing financial problems are watching the Wisconsin fight. Republican governors can't wait for a Walker win to follow suit. That can only hurt the Democratic Party and in the long-run labour unions for public employees. Political waves in the US tend to move as fast, if not faster, as tornadoes in the Mid-West. While among the qualified for the job, President Barack B.O.Obama is partially a product of this phenomenon. So is  Sarah Mama GrizzlyPalin ... the babe libs love to hate ... , the self-confessed Alaskan moose butcher and its meat glutton. Then there's anti-Obama Tea Party. Should a Walker-hatchet-style turn into a wave, only the Republicans would gain. Posted by: Fred 2011-03-07 |
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