Wisconsin Governor’s Battle With Labor Gives Cause For Reflection
Our great nation was founded because of a single and universally agreed upon concept by our founding fathers; that groups of people have the right to collectively demand fair treatment in their lives and work. An idea that they were each willing to fight and die for.
What was it–if not a colonial attempt at collective bargaining–that our founding fathers did? They came together and presented the King of England with an offer to fairly negotiate, or lose his control over the peoples and revenues of America.
And when King George declined to negotiate, our founding fathers, with the idea and intention “to form a more perfect union“, revolted.
From that point to today, unionization among Americans has taken us to having our own country, to practical labor laws which protect us from working conditions we openly scoff at that exist in other nations, to a narrowing of the gap between pay levels among women and minorities as opposed to white males.
Our founding fathers recognized and practiced the fundamental necessity of standing united against tyranny, be it from a monarchical tyrant, a state Governor, or a greedy CEO, it is a founding principal of our nation and we all, every one of us living in the greatest nation on Earth, benefit from that idea and the struggles of united Americans–from our founding fathers to today’s Teamsters–in our lives each and every single day.
What’s happening now with states like Wisconsin, Ohio, and others is a complex problem. There are financial budget issues at stake that are very real, and they will require some creative and thrifty solutions to solve.
However, attacking unions and the ability to collectively bargain is not the answer. A state needing more revenue gains not a penny by stripping the right to collectively bargain away from its public workers. The loss of bargaining rights simply doesn’t have a direct dollars and cents value attached to it.
The right to unionize for collective bargaining is a concept, an accepted Universal Human Right, it isn’t a tangible good that states could take from workers and sell on eBay to raise revenues with.
In real terms, attacking collective bargaining is actually avoiding the true financial issues of the state. It’s political smoke and mirrors, but lacks any possibility for solving, or even slightly decreasing, the state’s financial problems.
A more productive approach for any state, city, or other small government that actually wants to address their financial pitfalls would be to sit down at a table with union leaders and negotiate ideas that actually have potential to offer financial relief to the taxpayers in the short and long terms.
Anything beyond that, such as attempting to prevent any Americans from freely participating in a collective bargaining process if they wish to, is completely un-American and violates the very principals our founding fathers are so revered for today.
About Scott Bannon
A conservative liberal with a perspicuous perspective on American politics.
Scott's writings have been published on dozens of news and opinion outlets both online and off.
