While I strongly disagree with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s recent actions regarding collective bargaining, I do give him credit for one thing: He’s up front about what he is attacking.
Contrast this to our governor, who is very anti-union (especially unionized teachers) but yet his attack is far more indirect. Basically he is saying “the costs I want to reduce are labor, but I’m too much of a chicken-$hit to do it outright”. What Corbett is doing instead is basically forcing local school districts (of which there are too many in Pennsylvania to begin with) to do his dirty work for him. What’s more, PA’s school districts (Scranton and Old Forge come to mind in particular) tend to be populated by political hacks who often know ZILCH about education, let alone running multi-million dollar organizations.
Now I’m not a big fan of unions, but unlike our governor, I’ll say that to anyone’s face. What’s more, I firmly believe that the best way to deal with unions is for an employer to create conditions whereby employees don’t feel the need for one in the first place. Unions thrive because employers are often greedy and stupid. HOWEVER, if employees choose to unionize, management has an obligation to be respectful and honest in how they deal with them. The side-ways, indirect attack by our governor is neither respectful or honest.
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