When Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin was trying to weaken unions by pushing “Act 10,” which basically ended collective bargaining for public employees, he said public employees didn’t need unions, since they had civil service to protect them. He also said private workplace unions were fine.
Then, last year, he signed a “right-to-work” law that said union members could opt out of paying dues, the first step to weakening all unions in the state. That was a measure which the Koch Brothers and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have been pushing in other states with much success.
As a final step to ending worker rights, Walker is supporting a bill that would gut the state’s civil service provisions. For example, the new rules would replace anonymous exams with resumes, would lengthen the probationary period for new employees during which they can be fired for any reason, and would centralize hiring within the politicized Department of Administration consisting of Walker appointees.
If the civil servants and teachers in Wisconsin are anything like those in Pennsylvania, probably quite a few of them voted for Walker in the last election. I know personally a number of local teachers and government workers who supported anti-worker Republican candidates. Perhaps they could call up a civil service friend in Wisconsin and ask, “How’s that working out for ya”?
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