Scott Walker Setting His Sights On Police And Fire?

When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the Republican state legislature virtually eliminated collective bargaining for public sector workers two years ago, they largely spared police and fire unions.  But now, it appears that the honeymoon is over.  In a story in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel entitled “Scott Walker opens door – then downplays – limiting public safety unions,” reporter Patrick Marley wrote,

Two and a half years after mostly sparing police officers and firefighters from his union restrictions, Gov. Scott Walker said this week he is open to the idea of limiting their ability to collectively bargain.

The article goes on to point out that some, but not all, of the public safety unions, endorsed Walker, apparently because he spared them from the onerous limitations he placed on their fellow public workers.

The moral of this story is clear.  When the rights of any group of workers are successfully eroded, it is only a matter of time before the same strategy is applied to other groups.  The concept is embodied in a slogan adopted by many American trade unions: “An injury to one is an injury to all.”