After Wisconsin, Government Won't Negotiate Anything with Any Unions

Of the 16 Wisconsin senators eligible for recall elections, half are Republicans and half are Democrats. The difference between them, however, is that, for the Democrats, “the only group trying to recall them so far is Americans Against Immigration Amnesty, a little-known Utah organization,” which is actually the American Patriot Recall Coalition, which has no board members in Wisconsin. Also they have no board members with last names. Ha! Who knows who’s funding them? There can be no recall challenge to an elected politician in Wisconsin until he’s been in office a year; but, with at least 100,000 people demonstrating in Madison on Saturday, there should be no problem getting recall petitions signed against the Republicans. The Wisconsin trickle-down effect has already impacted members of unions in other states — including even in New York. Here’s how one government worker from Long Island explains it.

I am not getting a raise this year. I am not getting an increment. I am not getting a cost of living adjustment. I probably will not get those things for the next three years. There are no bonuses or merit raises ever. My salary will remain the same for at least the next three years because the state will not bargain with our union. There will be no concessions because we are not even being offered the chance to talk about concessions. In a meeting with union delegates last week, representatives from my employer — that’s Uncle Sam — cited Wisconsin as one of the reasons we’re not negotiating anything.

That’s fine, right? The end result will be that all manner of government jobs will be the new teaching. Remember how, even as of a few months ago, we used to talk about the “crisis” in teaching, because few saw an incentive to become teachers? Good luck getting your driver’s license renewed and your court papers filed and your fires put out in a decade from now!