Here’s what some of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s fellow Republican governors have to say about stripping public employee unions of their right to collectively bargain:
- Republican Florida Governor Rick Scott: “My belief is as long as people know what they’re doing, collective bargaining is fine.”
- Republican Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, speaking about a “right to work” bill proposed by Republicans: “For reasons I’ve explained more than once I thought there was a better time and place to have this very important and legitimate issue raised.”
- Republican Michigan Governor Rick Snyder: “We’re going to go negotiate with our unions in a collective-bargaining fashion to achieve goals,” the Republican governor said in an interview. “It’s not picking fights. It’s about getting people to come together and say here are the facts, here are the common-ground solutions.”
It’s unfortunate for Gov. Walker that he chose to follow the Chris Christie model of governing, instead of taking a more rational and measured approach. Wisconsin has a long and proud history of management and labor coming together to negotiate contracts (including, when necessary, concessions from employees), and it’s a shame Gov. Walker wants to throw away that history simply to please his corporate backers.
These are a DIRECT result of the work we are doing in Madison.