The Right to Compete Globally

Posted: Feb 25, 2015

Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker and the Republican State legislature is moving forward with plans to destroy the unions by passing "Right to Work" legislation. The Senate majority leader Fitzgerald testified "in order to see our economy continue to compete at a GLOBAL level, we cannot remain mired in an antiquated system." OK, we MTs know what that means--cuts in wages, benefits and abuse by employers. University of Oregon Professor Gordon Lafer contradicted Fitzgerald's testimony, saying right-to-work legislation had no correlation to lower unemployment or higher wages. "What the most rigorous research shows is that all other things being equal, the impact of adopting a right to work law in 2015 is to lower wages by about 3 percent for both union and nonunion workers across the state," Lafer said. * * * I have read before that when Alabama went "Right to Work," wages went from $22.00 per hour to $15.00 per hour. I am an MT who is on the "border". Across the border in Blue State Minnesota, the unemployment is low, there is a budget surplus, and they are working to improve the education and transportation systems. In Wisconsin, we are dealing with a budget DEFICIT, Walker is acting to cut the university budgets even more than he already has in an effort to make his budget look better for a presidential run, and he does not even have a college diploma. What he does have is Koch money backing him. I would be happy to get rid of Walker as a governor, but I absolutely do not want him as a president. ;