Not surprisingly, Gov. Scott Walker rejected a compromise that would have delivered the budget savings he was seeking from public employees … showing once and for all that this whole debate is about union busting, and little else.
From the Journal Sentinel story:
“Gov. Walker has repeatedly said that we won’t negotiate the budget and we can’t balance the budget on a hope and a prayer,” Werwie said in the statement. “That remains true. State and local government need the flexibility to manage this and future budget crises. In addition, as government workers pay a modest amount toward their pension and healthcare premium, about half the national average, it is fair to give them the choice of additional savings on their union dues.”
Oh, so now the issue is more than just giving local governments the “flexibility” and “tools” they need to balance their budgets (tools we don’t need). It’s about giving public workers “the choice of additional savings on their union fees.” Sure.
Why can’t the governor just say that he wants to end unions in Wisconsin? I’d respect him for admitting it.
South Milwaukee Blog 
Who’s not compromising? The unions had a chance back in December but told the people of Wisconsin to shove it.
That’s why I voted for Walker. Wisconsin needs someone with backbone to make the hard choices and avoid a governmnet shut down. I didn’t know about the Minnesota debt, did you?
Question: Erik…. do you know how many of Wisconsin’s working population are in a union? (just asking)
Mama Badger – Don’t know about Wisconsin specifically, but I had on an extremely left-wing talk show on TV the other night and she said (nationwide I think) that overall its about 12%. Private sector is about 6% and public sector is about 36%.
Good question. In 2009, overall union membership was at 15.2 percent, much lower than it used to be, although membership has apparently stabilized in recent years (at least that’s my reading of the numbers). We are above the national average, although there are a number of states where union membership is significantly higher (and lower).
Also, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “in addition to Wisconsin’s 385,000 wage and salary workers who were union members in 2009, another 15,000 wage and salary workers were represented by a union on their main job or were covered by an employee association or contract while not being union members themselves.”
I got those figures here …
Click to access unionwi.pdf