However, nothing truly happened in Wisconsin that was note-worthy. That is, not until this recent battle for collective bargaining to keep the state afloat. A great portion of the country is falling on hard times, and states are now trying to find new and innovative ways in order to make up what they've lost in order to reduce the debt that they have accrued since the recession began.
Wisconsin is trying to do this in a very controversial way. The biggest point of contention is that they're removing collective bargaining from the ability of the workers and unions. Effectively, this makes unions in the state absolutely useless for government employees.
Now, growing up in a family where the major breadwinner is in the auto industry, I have learned that unions have become a major facet in this country. Through history class, I have learned how they fought for workers rights, breaking them free from the horrific and unsafe work conditions in the early 20th century.
Then unions have tried to form and expand to almost every job in the United States. Teachers, Police Officers, Nurses, even Cashiers have unions now. With this expansion, as well as the victory over conditions in the workplace, what the unions fought for began to change into a fight over compensation and what an employee deserves for their work.
Now when I say victory over conditions, I mean that within this current day and age that you already have organizations like OSHA working hard to maintain bearable or pleasant working conditions in accordance with what goes on. It's impossible to do any job without OSHA regulations telling a worker what they're job allows them to do for safety reasons.
So, since the Unions are now only fighting for worker compensation and rights within the company, there is one question that no one is daring to ask:
When have/are the unions becoming too powerful?
The question is potentially answered by the actions of the United Auto Workers of America when, in 2008, the Union gave wage and benefit concessions back to Ford, Chrysler and GM to help the companies out and keep them running. The union knew that unless the companies became more competitive to the foreign automakers in terms of both product and labor, then they would struggle to survive.
Now, since we've seen this in the private sector, why can't we see this same type of concession in the public one? While the Wisconsin bill seems extreme, and it is. By no means am I endorsing the fact that we should take away unions at all. Unions have an important function in our society that most Americans don't usually get. But why can't the unions give concessions back to the states?
The fact is, that the unions can't stop certain aspects of certain jobs from being hazardous. But at the same time, the people who go into those jobs know an idea what they're getting in to. A person going into the police force knows that the job is potentially dangerous. A person going into teaching knows that the classroom might be rough to deal with at times. Just like and auto worker knows what the conditions in the plant will be like that day. But that doesn't mean that there are somethings they can't give up and still live comfortably.
PDF Version of the 2010 Wisconsin Budget
In the last fiscal year, according to my personal math (Not my strongest suit, feel free to comment and correct me on this. The link above sends you to the PDF of last year's budget), the state of Wisconsin spent over 50% of their budget on their educational system. 6,500,000,000 dollars in funding to the schools in the state. That's funding for lunches, faculty, programs, things of that nature. That is a large piece of the financial pie of that state.
But a lot of funding goes into costly pension and retirement plans, into group health insurance and life insurance plans. All of these concessions are union fought for and rightfully deserved by the people in it. But the money they put into these plans currently is a pittance compared to what the state puts into it. Currently, the average employee of the state puts in .2%-.8% of their weekly paycheck into these programs. So, it they make 200 dollars a week, they put in roughly 40 cents to $1.60 a week. Under this new law, they would be paying 11 dollars into the system.
Most workers put the same amount a week into social security, taxes, and other things, so why should government workers be exempt from that? Obviously something has to change within the Wisconsin economy, and as controversial as this bill is, maybe it might the start in something much more compromising and beneficial to everyone in Wisconsin, if not the country
I say the country because at this point, bills of the same caliber are being brought to state congresses around the country, each with the same effect as this one. Protesters have started to gather, and things are getting blown out of proportion in the current liberal media. The one conservative media outlet we have in the country isn't helping either, using blatant scare tactics and lies in order to persuade what we do. It's a practice that has been ongoing by both sides in the media, but now becoming more apparent.
So, as you read this, I only ask you to do one thing. If you are living in a state where a bill of this nature is being introduced, actually read the bill. Then read the budget for your state in the last fiscal year. Yes, this year was a time of elections for state officials, and things have changed drastically, but see where the previous leadership succeeded, and where it failed. Maybe we can learn a few things from this and figure out where we need to go from here.
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