Wisconsin Labor Stand off

Since I work for the International Labor Organisation, I feel somewhat obliged to write about the recent labor discord in Wisconsin. I'll first let William B. Gould speak for me:

"As the United States has argued for South Africa, Poland and now Egypt, unions are a basic part of democratic society. Yet that is the principle under attack by Governor Walker in Wisconsin now."


It's important to eradicate certain myths about this war on unions.

Myth 1.
The Unions are out of control, the governor cannot negotiate in good faith with them.

The reality is the unions have not been given any seat at the negotiating table. Public sector workers have been willing over the last two years to accept huge pay cuts.

Myth 2:
Governor Walker is acting altruistically to save the state of Wisconsin, he has no alterior motives.

As one reader commeted on the new york times room for debate, "Firefighter and police unions were spared this draconian demand. Why? They tend to vote Republican. They supported Walker's campaign. Teacher's unions typically support Democratic candidates. This is an effort to stifle the opposition, to subvert the very principles of democracy."

Myth 3
Government workers should not have the right to unionize because they are workers trying to make a profit, but servants: They work at the behest of the public.

This comment is repeated time and again. To me, it is a real head scratcher. Yes, it is true that tax payer dollars pay for public sector salaries, but tax payers don't decide individual salaries, they don't oversee the safety standards for workers. These decisions are always made by a small group of people in the state capital. The goal of the Union is to make sure that this small group of deciders, provides decent working conditions to public servants. Is there anything wrong with that?


Myth 4,

High public sector salaries and good working conditions are bad/unfair for the private sector.

Often times people make it sound that the public sector should follow exactly the same rules as the private sector. Since the private sector doesn't get to unionize ( mostly because firms have been so effective at squashing union mobilization), than the public sector shouldn't get to either. Of course everyone should have the great working conditions allowed through collective bargaining! I might add that high wages often add important demand into the economy so there is another reason to support collective bargaining.


Lastly Barack Obama's State of the Union.

"Some countries don’t have to (negotiate on anything). If the central government wants a railroad, they get a railroad. If they don’t want a bad story in the newspaper, it doesn’t get written. And yet, a I know there isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth."

Collective Bargaining can also be messy. Banning them is certainly efficient in the short run. But if anything, the robustness of the American democracy shows that when you give people freedom, you end up in a more decent society. When you decide to curb freedom out of expediency (in the case of Egypt for example) you almost always end up with oppression.