How many times must someone tell you that this isn't about "unions and their leaders" before you get it?
The union's power doesn't come from its leadership - it comes directly from state law that allows them to hold states, counties and cities hostage through the collective bargaining process. THAT is what this fight is about.
This is about state LEGISLATORS and the initiatives they're trying to enact. I don't give a hoot if the union membership elects Bugs Bunny to represent them. It's WHOLLY immaterial. What I care about is Scott Walker and the Republican legislators passing the laws that need to be passed to save the state from financial ruin.
And who do you think is backing and urging, funding those dems that ran across the state lines? Paying for the protests, urging the teachers to call out sick, causing parents to call off work to care for the kids as schools across the state close. Applying pressure to the GOP to buckle as the work stoppage builds.
bugs bunny/