Here's What Wisconsin's Plan Would Actually Do

Ezra Klein: It's a 'multi-part attack on unions,' and the changes are big
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 19, 2011 12:36 PM CST
Here's What Wisconsin's Plan Would Actually Do
Jesse Jackson stands with protesters at the Capitol rotunda in Madison on Friday.   (AP Photo/Wisconsin State Journal, Craig Schreiner)

Today's protests in Wisconsin are expected to be the biggest yet, notes the Wisconsin State Journal, with counter-protesters joining the fray for the first time. Which makes it a good time to assess exactly what Gov. Scott Walker's plan (read it here) would actually do, writes Ezra Klein in his Washington Post blog. "The best way to understand Walker's proposal is as a multi-part attack on the state's labor unions," he writes. Walker wants to limit their ability to negotiate benefits and collect dues, and require members to vote each year on certification.

"Put it all together and it looks like this," writes Klein: "Wisconsin's unions can't deliver value to their members, they're deprived of the resources to change the rules so they can start delivering value to their members again, and because of that, their members eventually give in to employer pressure and shut the union down in one of the annual certification elections." This isn't a modest proposal, contrary to the governor's assertions. "You may think Walker's proposal is a good idea or a bad idea. But that's what it does." Full blog here. (More Wisconsin stories.)

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