As Wisconsin goes, so Michigan goes?

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

In early 2011, pro-union activists raised a ruckus at the Wisconsin statehouse. They were raging in opposition to Gov. Scott Walker's public-sector union reforms. The laws passed, and Walker survived a subsequent union-led recall effort. But the real question of who won that fight may be decided in Michigan this month.

That's because state Republican leaders there are mulling whether to join Wisconsin's union reform push with a state "right-to-work" law. Republicans control the governorship and both houses of the legislature -- and by most accounts, they have the votes.

What's holding them back is the fear that they'll face a backlash like the one Walker faced, poisoning the legislature's efforts to pass anything else.

The stakes are high. If the Republicans back down, it could belatedly justify Big Labor's scorched-earth tactics in Wisconsin and elsewhere. Despite Walker's survival, it will signify that lawmakers in other states are unsure whether such reform efforts are worth the trouble.

If, on the other hand, Michigan does become the 24th state to adopt right-to-work, it will be a major milestone in the decline of union power in the United States. The historic home of the auto industry will have rejected the pleas of its own unions. Other states may start looking at similar legislation.

[Geee]

Two of Wisconsin's largest teachers unions enter merger talks

 

 

MADISON — Wisconsin's two largest teachers unions will talk about merging as membership declines due to an overhaul of collective bargaining power.

The Wisconsin Education Association Council voted over the weekend at a special assembly to join the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin in talks to merge the groups.

Leaders of both unions say membership has declined about 30 percent since the state's new collective bargaining law, known as Act 10, took effect. The law pushed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker ended most collective bargaining for the majority of public workers.

 

http://walworthcountytoday.com/news/2012/dec/04/two-largest-teachers-unions-enter-merger-talks/