The Governor should stop shifting issues and instead focus on the actual budget crisis.
Background Info of Budget Crisis
After Governor Scott Walker began his term in the beginning of the year, the state of Wisconsin faced a $3 billion budget gap. The Governor proposed several budget cuts to state programs, but one of the most controversial Governor’s proposals has been severely limiting collective bargaining rights of public worker unions. This has prompted a continuous, massive protest within the state capitol for several weeks, and also prompted the Wisconsin’s State Democrats to flee to the neighboring state, Illinois, to prevent the Republican-led State Senate from passing any legislation to limit collective bargaining rights. (Without a single Democrat State Senator present, the State Senate cannot pass any bills due to a lack of quorum)
Governor Walker’s Position
Governor Walker insists that limiting collective bargaining rights of state workers is necessary to bring back fiscal responsibility for the state of Wisconsin. He argues that the pension system and the health care benefit for state workers simply do not match the realities of America, and he believes that foregoing collective bargaining rights of public worker unions are necessary to return Wisconsin to sound fiscal conditions. After collective bargaining rights are suspended (only wages will be spared, up to the rate of inflation), the Governor plans to have state workers “pay into their pension to 5.8 percent of their pay, from less than 1 percent now”.
Union’s Position
However, the public worker unions are strongly opposed to the governor’s proposal to deny collective bargaining rights, because it principally is seen as an attack to the fundamental right for workers to organize and protect working conditions. The public unions also believe that the budget cuts that the governor is proposing is going to hurt the state of Wisconsin itself, because public service sectors are going to be severely limited as a result of the budget cuts, especially during the time in which the needs for these services are at the highest for most struggling citizens.
Issue Shifting in terms of budget crisis
If we look at the issue from both sides, one cannot help but wonder why Governor Walker is shifting the issue from the state budget to collective bargaining rights. The Governor has said that limiting bargaining rights is a necessary component to close the budget gap of the state, but there are critical details missing to make this point. Specifically, if the state government always “loses” in each collective bargaining arbitrations, then doesn’t that mean the state government is simply terrible at the collective bargaining in the first place?
If what Governor Walker is stating is true, then it also means that he is a weak negotiator at the collective bargaining table. This explains why he wants to get rid of collective bargaining rights for unions, because the Governor knows that he will lose in the negotiations due to his own incompetence of negotiating competitively against public worker unions.
Negotiating skills are arguably one of the major components for leadership, and Governor Walker’s attempt to end collective bargaining rights seem to show his attempts to cover one of his leadership qualities.
The issue of collective bargaining and the state budget are related, but they are not as close as the Governor wants us to see.
Potential Solution: Be truthful
Instead of attacking collective bargaining rights, the Governor should spend more time on how to fill the budget gap. Raising taxes should be on the table, although he seems to be more interested in cutting taxes for corporations, which makes the budget issue ever more difficult. Unless the Governor shows that he is principally focused on solving the budget crisis and not on attacking public unions, the skepticisms surrounding his original motives begins to cloud his political career.
