Wisconsin passes anti-union bill

Unions plan 2012 election counter-attack after weeks of protests that drew tens of thousands Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, succeeded on Friday in taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from the vast majority of the state’s public employees, delivering an epic defeat to the labour movement. Union leaders plan to use the setback to fire up their members nationwide and mount a counter-attack against Republicans at the ballot box in 2012. The bill passed the state’s assembly after more than three weeks of protests that drew tens of thousands of opponents. Union supporters planned a mass rally at the Capitol on Saturday and continued to circulate petitions to recall from office eight of the Republican state senators who supported the bill. The Senate cleared the way for the bill with a surprise move that allowed them to move the measure forward by an 18-1 vote without 14 Democratic senators present. The proposal has touched off a national debate over labour rights for public employees, and its implementation is a key victory for Republicans who have targeted unions amid an effort to slash government spending. Republicans, newly empowered after seizing control of the House of Representatives and many state governments in November, had promised deep spending cuts, to hold or cut taxes and to shrink the size of government. Walker is part of the new, highly conservative wave of Republicans who have moved to cut taxes for businesses in their states. Similar restrictions on union bargaining rights are making their way through Ohio’s legislature. Several other states are debating lesser measures to curb union rights. US unions Wisconsin Republicans US politics United States guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 11, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.