More Bad News for Walker

Even though recent polls continue to show disapproval for Gov. Walker and an increase in support for unions and collective bargaining, Wisconsin Republicans still refuse to negotiate amendments to the pending anti-union legislation. According to a recent NBC/ Wall Street Journal Poll, only 33% of those surveyed found it acceptable to “Eliminate public employees’ right to collectively bargain over health care, pensions, and other benefits when negotiating a union contact” while and overwhelming 62% found this unacceptable. Support for Gov. Walker has significantly decreased as a result of his recent union-busting initiative. According to polls taken by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, 53% of those surveyed have a negative view of the Governor while this percentage was only 35% in November. These numbers prove that Gov. Walker’s plans to take away collective bargaining rights are clearly not a reflection of what his constituency wants, and as this scheme continues, the Republicans in Wisconsin just continue to lose more support.

Despite recent rumors that the 14 Democratic senators will return to Wisconsin and vote on the current version if the bill, these senators have made it very clear that they refuse to return until acceptable negotiations are made. After an article in the Wall Street Journal reported that the senators would soon return to Madison, Sen. Chris Larson quickly refuted that idea, stating that the quote by Minority Leader Mark Miller that the WSJ reporter used to make such a claim was completely taken out of context. According to Sen. Larson, “Dems will return when collective bargaining is off the table. That could be soon based on the growing public opposition to the bill and the recall efforts against Republicans.” 21st Century Democrats continues to support the “Wisconsin 14” and we commend the efforts of Democratic leaders all over the country who are fighting to preserve the right to collectively bargain and sustain the necessary power of unions in the workplace.