#Wisconsin Governor Threatens To Replace #Union Workers with #National #Guard

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You may click here for the source post (The Huffington Post) if you prefer

These unions are NOT the TeaParty.. As *I* have been saying for quite some time now.. If it's violence you're worried about just try f'ing with the criminal union bosses of this country.. You're likely to get your violence then..

Guess we'll just have to wait and see WTF happens next..

Greg
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State workers in Wisconsin are protesting a statement by Republican Governor Scott Walker that, union reps say, amounts to a threat to use the National Guard to help break the public union.

Citing a $137 million budget deficit, Walker announced a plan last week which would essentially take away the public union's collective bargaining rights and slash benefits for state employees. Meanwhile, the share of corporate tax revenue funding the state government has fallen by half since 1981 and, according to Wisconsin Department of Revenue, two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes.

In the case of a walkout, Walker has put the National Guard on alert. Last week, he told reporters that the guard is "prepared" for "whatever the governor, their commander-in-chief, might call for," such as staffing prisons if guards go on strike.

Wisconsin is one of a number of states facing severe budget cuts and difficult choices. But as Bloomberg News points out, the biggest savings Walker is proposing have nothing to do with state workers or collective bargaining. Walker claims the state can save $165 million by the end of next June simply by restructuring existing debt.

"I'm just trying to balance my budget," Mr. Walker told the New York Times last week. "To those who say why didn't I negotiate on this? I don't have anything to negotiate with. We don't have anything to give. Like practically every other state in the country, we're broke. And it's time to pay up."

The Republican Party of Wisconsin has said that Walker's plan will save Wisconsin $30 million over the next three months and $300 million over the next two years.

Union leaders and labor scholars don't think Walker's move to crush the union is about the deficit.