Buffalo NY blogger vs Madison WI Governor Scott Walker
Hats off to Ian Murphy - a writer fro the BuffaloBeast.com without him - no one would know the extent of the diabolical intent of the debate raging in Madison WI over collective bargaining.
Apparently, this gentleman doesn't know the meaning of the word "no" and when the democratic State Senators claimed that they could not get in contact with Governor Walker - he jumped in with an out-of-the-box method of establishing contact. Pretending to be billionaire contributor David Koch - Mr. Murphy found that Governor Walker had a surprising amount of time on his hands for a simple phone conversation.
Thinking he had a sympathetic ear - the Governor let down his hair and established for the record that he was sleazy enough to be a master exploitive politics. He also had enough hubris to fancy himself a latter-day Ronald Reagan.
By all means, go to the Buffalo Beast to see the transcript - I have embedded the interview conducted by Lawrence O'Donnell on "The Last Word" yesterday.
Cannibalizing what remains of the middle by fiat…
As I have said previously, my sympathy for public unions is quite limited. All the years that the private sector was being cannibalized they saw fit to only demand pay hike after pay hike - most of which was extracted from those whose incomes were being decimated. Without any sense of sharing the sacrifice, they cut a very unsympathetic figure. Note to all activists - if you want to make a case for a cause - its important to make sure you have not prejudiced the public against said cause by being tone-deaf and arrogant.
However, this attack on the unions is a coordinated effort on the part of the monied elite to extract the last thin dime out of those who work for a living. By trying to take collective bargaining out of the mix they effectively eliminate any substantive discussion regarding working conditions.
What is collective bargaining and why is it important?
For those who don't understand the value of collective bargaining, I will take an example from my own life.
I was in a non-public union (1199) when I was a lab manager during the 1990s. The union was effective for many employee classes, but for researchers, it had no pull whatsoever. There were too many foreign nationals pushing down wages and degrading working conditions. So it was as if there was no union. I wouldn't wish the conditions I worked under for four years on my worst enemy. It was basically a high-tech sweatshop. You were paid (not very well) for 7 hours but expected to work "until you finished what needs to be done." The trouble with that was that I would defy even a robot-like Star Trek's "Data" to complete what they expected us to do in under 12 hours. We were also expected to be on tap for weekend work if necessary - also unpaid. People were on roller skates trying to get too much done too quickly so they could at least get home and crash for a few hours. This caused accidents like radiation spills - chemical spills and the like. It was simple exhaustion - people got past the point of caring. Burnout was the norm as was the flouting of some basic safety precautions. Note that none of this has to do with salary - its all about working CONDITIONS. Sadly - the above could easily become the norm without collective bargaining. One thing I learned from that period is that working conditions can deteriorate quickly if there are no checks and balances.
This begs the question: is this the direction we want to take the American workplace? rest assured, that's the future if nothing is done to stem this tide.
For an excellent discussion on collective bargaining - with Eliot Spitzer on Parker - Spitzer including Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO just click on the link.
The interview with Professor Jeffrey Sachs and economics professor from Columbia University underscores the ramifications. I referred to the content of Governor Walker's conversation with Ian Murphy as diabolical - he called it vile. Of all the interviews and blogs out there Professor Sachs response to this "phone interview" corresponds most to my own visceral response.
Jon Stewart on Governor Walker and collective bargaining...
There are many times I say thank God for Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. Since the mainstream media downplayed much of the substance of this story - The Daily show provides an outlet where the general public can actually hear what is happening through the guise of comedy. Thank you Jon - you do more good than you know.
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