Not satisfied with holding the Legislature hostage, union leaders in Wisconsin now seem bent on calling for a general strike.
I’d point out the history of striking against the public, which is illegal, and how it never bodes well for the union. But this article from The New American does the heavy lifting for me.
Writing in Liberation, the official newspaper of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, union organizer Jeff Bigelow also urged a general strike. “Waiting for an electoral solution could deplete the energy of this new movement,” he said. “We need tactics that escalate pressure now. The most reasonable tactic, one that would resonate with a lot of people and contains the seeds of victory, is the general strike.”
And “electoral solution?” The public voted just four short months ago to oust those same “solutions” and somehow, the point eludes these agitators. More to the point, Wisconsin voters selected Governor Scott Walker and the Republican majority due to their promises to balance the budget and address issues, such as collective bargaining.
Yet somehow, its all been a big surprise.
It’s not just folks in Wisconsin who support Governor Walker. Rasmussen’s recent poll found that nearly 50 percent of Americans back this gutsy cheesehead.
“The outcome of an illegal strike is likely to be mass firings, combined with immediate decertification of the unions themselves, at least after a short period of time to reconsider,” predicted conservative blogger Ed Morrisey in a piece for HotAir. “Walker will eventually have to follow Ronald Reagan’s example with PATCO [Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization] to establish firmly that the people of Wisconsin, through their elected representatives, run the state of Wisconsin — and not union bosses or Barack Obama’s political organization.”
Mass firings in the face of general strikes by President Ronald Reagan and Calvin Coolidge before him resulted in higher public approval ratings for both figures. That’s just as well for Walker.
The “electoral solution” of 2012 might look a lot like 2010, only sweeter.
– Follow me @erica_holloway.