Wisconsin Upholds the LawThat Eliminates Union Rights

State legislature ratifies the law, after it was passed in the senate on Wednesday. Government employees promise to continue the fight that has the United States up in the air

The law that eliminates the union rights of Wisconsin government employees and has divided the country in a bitter ideological battle is ready to take effect after it was passed Thursday by the state legislature, in absence of the Democratic legislators who opted for the most drastic way out in a duel that can drag on and even worsen.

The law was passed by the Senate late Wednesday. Last night, the legislature ratified the upper house’s decision, with 53 votes in favor and 42 against. Democrats predict that the passing of this measure will have a political cost for Republicans. Despite this, Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican who has achieved national recognition with this initiative, has decided to continue the proceedings and sign the law when it reaches his desk.

Both sides have brought out all of their artillery in this conflict: the Democrats, with their boycott of the legislative action, and the Republicans, with their decision to move forward with an unpopular proposal — as shown in the polls — that could distance them even more from the working class.

The unions have promised to continue with the fight that has gone on now for more than a month. Democrats have committed themselves to revoking the law as soon as they have the opportunity to do so. Republicans insist that this is a question of principle, and they will not give in to the pressure from the streets. The law prohibits unions from negotiating agreements for public employees beyond salary increases, and those increases must be within the limit of the cost of living index. Citing the horrible state of public finances, the governor refuses to include any kind of social benefits for government employees.

Meanwhile, it is a very relevant issue for workers in Wisconsin and in other states that could follow this example. But if the case has attained such significance, it is especially because it represents an example of the Republican solution to the serious problem of the public deficit. Simply put, the message that conservatives are sending from Wisconsin is that they are blaming the deficit on the abusive benefits for government employees, not the $800 billion set aside to save the banks or the losses accumulated by the fiscal advantages given by George Bush and renewed by Barack Obama.

The president has sided with the workers and has condemned what has happened in Wisconsin as “an assault on unions.” The Democrats have rallied around their colleagues in this industrial state on a national scale. Everyone knows that this conflict will not end with the passing of the law in the state legislature, but that it is a preview of the great debate the country will have during the 2012 presidential campaign.

The fight over the deficit is already a big issue under discussion in Congress in Washington. The Republicans have bet on it as their way to get back to the White House and are currently refusing to pass the president’s budget for the current fiscal year if he doesn’t accept a decrease in public spending of more than $60 billion. The problem is of such magnitude that it could end up completely paralyzing government activity if they don’t reach an agreement in a few days.