Posted on 09/14/2015 8:38:28 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) is proposing the elimination of federal employee unions as part of broader package of policies aimed at curbing the influence of unions across the country.
Walker rocketed to national prominence on the back of his own anti-union policies back in Wisconsin, so he’s looking to elevate that push to the national level as he works to rebound from slipping poll numbers.
The plan, released Monday morning, includes shuttering the National Labor Relations Board, a government agency that protects employee’s ability to join unions and rules on unfair labor allegations. Walker plans to call the NLRB a “one-sided proxy for the big union bosses — often at the expense of taxpayers and workers,” according to excerpts of a Monday afternoon speech at a Las Vegas town hall.
It also calls for a federal “Right to Work” law, a measure that prohibits compelling employees to join a union. Opponents of the policy criticize it for impeding collective bargaining rights.
“Any economic plan that does not bring our federal labor laws into the 21st Century is incomplete,” he will say.
“To grow the economy at a higher rate, requires a comprehensive approach and reform of the labor unions is a key part of the plan.”
States would be allowed to pass a law to overrule the national “Right to Work” presumption under Walker’s plan.
“Many of the nation’s federal labor laws and regulations have stood as a roadblock to fairness and opportunity, and instead have created rigid, top-down workplaces that don’t really work for Americans,” he said in a statement released with the plan.
“This will not be easy. Many—including the union bosses and the politicians they puppet—have long benefited from Washington rules that put the needs of special interests before those of middle-class families.”
The plan would also halt the practice of automatically taking union fees out of federal workers’ paychecks, bar unions from spending fees for political purposes, repeal the Obama administration’s labor regulations, and repeal a 1930’s law that forces the government to pay federal contractors the “local prevailing wage,” as determined by the Department of Labor.
The anti-union push mirrors the direction he’s taken Wisconsin, which has drawn both praise from supporters and the deep ire of critics. Walker helped shepherd a budget bill that restricted collective bargaining rights through the legislature in 2011, setting off wide-scale protests.
That prompted a 2012 recall election, which Walker won, and protestors continue to target Walker while he’s out on the stump.
Democratic National Committee spokesperson TJ Helmstetter panned the plan as “desperate and disgusting,” and amounts to Walker’s Wisconsin record “on steroids.”
“By seeking to dismantle unions – the backbone of the middle class that gave us weekends, paid vacations, and child labor laws – Scott Walker is again placing his political ambitions and the demands of his billionaire benefactors ahead of middle class Americans,” he said in a statement.
Walker has been battling slumping poll results over the past few months. He dropped from first place to tenth place in Quinnipiac University’s Iowa poll over a span of two months and now sits at seventh place nationally and in New Hampshire, according to RealClearPolitics’ average of recent polling.
Walker is doing his best to turn the national conversation from Trump and his circus to real issues. Walker chose unions because he has been very successful here in quelling their power and wants to take it nationally. Let’s Dump Trump and get on with finding men and women who can actually govern!
It was just absurd having to deal with unions in the Army.
If I wanted to move a coffee pot from one room to another I had to go through the bargaining unit first.
Walker is doing his best to turn the national conversation from Trump and his circus to real issues. Walker chose unions because he has been very successful here in quelling their power and wants to take it nationally. Let’s Dump Trump and get on with finding men and women who can actually govern!
Immediately upon reading the title this tune came to mind... To Much; To Little; To Late...
Music to my ears. This will have a huge impact if he can do it.
This was always going to be a big part of Scott Walker’s campaign.
I applaud Walker for what he did in Wisconsin. I do not believe that federal employee unions are the same issue as state-level public service unions. I think a lot of Americans and Republicans agree with me. Which is why this issue isn’t gaining Walker much traction.
Walker revoked instate tuition for illegals 6 months into his 1st term (2011) - only governor who has.
“...Experts were taken aback by the scope of Walker’s proposals, which seek to undo decades of law and would gut the landmark National Relations Labor Act — adopted in 1935 and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the height of the Great Depression.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Ann Hodges, a professor at the University of Richmond who has studied labor law for more than 40 years. “This will take the breath away from anyone who’s worked in labor relations for any length of time. ... It’s pretty draconian.”
Walker’s plan also calls for prohibiting automatic withdrawal of union dues to be used for political purposes and forbidding union organizers to access employees’ personal information, such as their phone numbers.
Lee Adler, a labor law expert at Cornell University, said Walker’s proposals would eliminate workers’ rights and make it more difficult for people to join the middle class.”
“Let’s Dump Trump and get on with finding men and women who can actually govern!”
Amen. Trump’s schtick is getting old.
"In one of his first clashes with the new Republican-dominated Congress over labor policy, President Obama vetoed a GOP-backed resolution Tuesday that would halt a National Labor Relations Board rule making it easier for workers to hold so-called “ambush” union-organizing elections.
It was Mr. Obama’s second veto since Republicans took control of the Senate in January, following his rejection in February of a measure that would have expedited the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline...."
Sept 2, 2015: NLRB and Small Business: Tensions Heightened Under Obama
"The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has pushed for rules that critics argue have favored unions and targeted the small business community. The board's latest controversial decision came last week, in a ruling that makes employers liable for labor violations committed by business partners and contractors.
The Hill reported five other NLRB rulings that were decided during President Obama's tenure that were against the best interest of small business. “There’s perhaps no labor board that has done more for organized labor than this one has,” Michael Lotito, an employment and labor attorney, told the The Hill. The labor board has “really put the wind back in the sails of unions,” said Beth Milito, NFIB Senior Legal Counsel, according to The Hill....."
I’m not saying it’s not an issue. It is. I’m saying it’s not the big issue in federal spending. Health costs, for example, are a much bigger issue. Entitlements in general. And what is driving up health costs everywhere, at the state and federal levels? The invasion of illegals. Have you been to a public hospital lately?
I think Walker is a good guy, and I might be wrong in my assessment that he peaked earlier this year. But that’s my assessment. The highest poll numbers he had this spring is as high as this guy is going to go this time around.
I wish him all the luck in the world in 2024.
He’s young. He can continue to do great things and be ready for 2024.
You and others interested in Right to Work may wish to pay attention to what happens Wednesday in Missouri. Special legislative session. Main issue is veto override of RTW legislation by Gov. Nixon. Republicans have a Super Majority in BOTH Houses, yet, a handful of them will not vote to override veto. Go figure. I can’t....Just pathetic.
"Governor Scott Walker and the GOP-controlled state legislature freed government employees from involuntary forced union membership, enabling them to choose or not choose to pay dues. The results have shown that roughly two-thirds have not chosen union membership when given the opportunity. And that has meant big cutbacks for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the most left wing and biggest political contributors to Democrats among American unions.......
[SNIP]
.....Keep in mind that AFSCME [American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees] was founded in Wisconsin, the state that was the birthplace of the Progressive political movement. Thus, the rejection of forced union membership is doubly painful. And it is already painful for the union bosses:........"
....No mention is made of political donations by the unions, but in the past AFSCME has been a major source of money and manpower for the Democrats. That racket is now ending for workers in Wisconsin, and one of Scott Walker’s strongest appeals will be to extend these reforms nationwide."
Nice to have a bidding war for conservative votes based on conservative issues.
My only problem with Walker on this issue is why did he wait til he was in the toilet to think of it? If he was at the top of the polls whould he still be calling for the elimination of the NRLB and govt unions? I’m all for it it I just don’t think Walker rings too credible at this point.
Ok. Well, thanks for all your good information. And again, Kudos to Walker for a great job in Wisconsin.
I look forward to seeing what kind of stature he will have in 2024.
Joan Walsh:
"...But Walker is a master of the politics of resentment, turning Wisconsin into an ideological war zone and pitting the good white people of the state against the cities, particularly heavily African American Milwaukee. In his crusade against public sector unions, Walker counted on the ire of private sector workers who’ve watched their own wages and benefits decline, at paying for a public sector where employees have it better than they do..."
Should give him some attention come Wednesday’s “Debate The Moderator” on CNN.
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