The Truth About Wisconsin's Collective Bargaining 'Rights'

[Geee]

American Thinker:

Right: noun: a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral.

That's the definition of the word used in connection with Wisconsin's government union employees and their demands to retain collective bargaining privileges. This issue more than any part of the Budget Repair Bill, has captured the nation's attention.

For weeks, we've heard demonstrators beating drums in Madison and equally vocal sympathizers in the media admonish anyone listening about "rights" of government union employees and the turmoil visited upon "the middle class" due to the Governor's Budget Repair bill. We've also seen polls suggesting public support for some of their views.

We do not believe that: 1) government employee collective bargaining constitutes a "right" by any reasonable measure, or 2) poll data spewed out by parts of the media has been properly framed, or useful to gauge public opinion.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, collective bargaining is

"A process of negotiation between representatives of workers (usually labor union officials) and management to determine the conditions of employment. The agreement reached may cover not only wages but hiring practices, layoffs, promotions, working conditions and hours, and benefit programs."

Further into the root of the issue, according to West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2, in Constitutional Law rights are classified as natural, civil, and political. Natural rights are those that are believed to grow out of the nature of the individual human being such as rights to life, liberty, privacy, and the pursuit of happiness. Civil Rights belong to every citizen of the state, and are not connected with the organization or administration of government.