A Public Policy poll finds that Gov. Walker is losing support in Wisconsin; if last fall’s election were held today, Walker’s Democratic opponent would win handily. Interestingly, the biggest shift was among Republicans with a union member living in the household.
A New York Times/CBS News poll also finds a hefty majority of Americans are opposed to taking collective bargaining rights away from public employees, 60 percent to 33 percent. This finding is nearly identical to other polls I’ve seen. What’s surprising is that nearly as large a majority were opposed to cutting pay or benefits to reduce budget deficits. And finally, this —
Labor unions, including private sector labor unions, are seen as less influential now than they were three decades ago. The poll found that 37 percent of those surveyed believe that labor unions have “too much influence†on American life and politics, while 48 percent said they had the “right amount†or “too little†influence. In a 1981 poll, by contrast — soon after President Ronald Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers — 60 percent of those surveyed said unions had “too much influence.†Of course, union membership has declined since then.
The campaign to turn unions into the bogyman is backfiring, seems to me.
“Interestingly, the biggest shift was among Republicans with a union member living in the household”
Why a union member would ever vote republican is beyond me?
This comment over at Ian Welsh’s blog gave me a lot of hope. It’s written by someone in Madison:
Side topic, great diary on the importance of laughter, and why it will prevail – The Koch’s on Them.
It aint fair! How come “Dutch” can fire an entire union and be hailed as a hero, while Walker only wants to destroy a limited amount of collective bargaining rights and he gets vilified for it?
“Greater love hath no Conservative than he who lays downs his political career for the cause his Teabagger brethren”
I am a Mailman and a member of a government union. Other unions may work differently, but all the officers of the NRLCA are elected from the ranks of rural carriers. We hire legal and labor experts, of course, but policy comes from us. Not some evil and distant ‘union boss’.
After a new contract is negotiated, it goes to the rank and file for a vote. Democracy, anyone? If the popular vote goes against the new contract, they have to try again and if the two sides are too far apart, it goes to a professional labor ‘judge’ who looks at the demands of both sides, and what the private sector is paying for similar work. The decision of the arbiter is binding or final, like it or not. That’s ‘binding arbitration’ and it’s why a ‘no strike’ clause is perfectly fair. We don’t want to strike but we want a fair deal compared to UPS and Fed Ex drivers.
Not all unions are as democratic as ours, and the Rural Letter Carriers Association is far from perfect. But no better system than government unions has been proposed to give the worker a voice equal to management , and the worker is the party in need of protection, not management.
The actual nature and function of government unions is misunderstood and distorted. If people understand, most would demand a similar system in their workplace. Which explains the denomination of unions by the right.
Maybe people are finally starting to realize that teachers, cops, and firemen, all live in their neighborhoods, or at least nearby, but have never seen the mansions of Jamie Dimon or any other CEO raping the countries economy. So they can see that union members live like they live, drive what they drive, and eat what they eat. No mansions in gated communities, no limo’s to get to work, and no personal chef’s there, like in a CEO’s home and office.
As far as that prank call went, Walker should have denied ever being on it. He should have asked what time the “alleged” call took place, and then said it couldn’t be him, he had his mouth full of Koch at the time.