Fourteen members of the Wisconsin State Senate earlieri this week decided to leave the state rather than participate in a scheduled vote which would deny collective bargaining rights to public workers including teachers, corrections officers and government employees.
In a move reminiscent of 2003’s situation in Texas when Democratic lawmakers left the state to avoid voting on a redistricting measure brought forward by now convicted felon and former House Majority Leader Tom Delay, these legislators are speaking on television and in social media from "an undisclosed location."
Governor Scott Walker already considered outlawing collective bargaining for public employees outright, but was informed that he did not have the power to do so. This legislative attempt is another salvo in the right wing’s fight to crush unionization in the US.
Wisconsin Republicans purport to be solving a budget crisis in the state, which was, in fact, caused by tax breaks given to corporations earlier in Governor Walker’s term. Wisconsin had been headed for a budget surplus before these tax breaks were voted in by the Republican majority and signed into law by Gov. Walker.
Public workers in Wisconsin have been protesting against the end of their collective bargaining rights at the State Capitol since last week, including teachers whose "sick-outs" have caused some schools to be closed.
Democratic legislators have vowed to stay out of state as long as it takes to get these issues resolved, perhaps weeks or even until June when the current legislative session goes into recess.
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