As Wisconsin workers continue to be left behind in this economy, it is clear that the policies being implemented to balance government budgets and stabilize businesses, favor the haves over the have-nots.
Hundreds of thousands of people are jobless and underemployed, and yet public services that help make life livable, or even bearable, in our society are being cut. As metro Milwaukee settles itself on becoming the fourth-poorest city in the nation, poverty continues to increase and reliable employment becomes less and less the norm; job security or guaranteed pensions are being viewed with increasing contempt by the rest of Wisconsin’s workers who have neither.
This is not mammby pammby land. In the real world, schools and libraries are being closed and other educational services are being cut. Access to health services for poor families continues to be a serious matter for Americans.
Such fiscal chaos to pay for basic public services and basic health and human needs one would expect should not be a complicated issue to resolve in Wisconsin.
Clearly the rich are not feeling the pinch of this economy. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to consume revenue. And jobs that pay a decent wage are in short supply, increasing the demand for public services.
Wisconsin cannot cut its way out of this crisis. Instead of trying to figure out how to bust up the unions, or stop pensions from being paid out, or prevent workers from being able to bargain their wages and benefits, Wisconsin’s leaders should be trying seriously to figure out what to do about the future of the Wisconsin workforce.
On the other hand, unions like AFT Local 212 of Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) isn’t helping the union cause either. Recently, under the radar, contracts were approved by a very pro-union board of directors at MATC. The board agreed to a deal that preserves a pension at full cost to the college and guarantees no layoffs for full-timers. AFT Local 212 members also gained on health insurance and wages. The actions of AFT Local 212 to some may appear nefarious, and some people may have just cause to think that way. This is a union that has had control of MATC and its board for many years. It is a union many point to as an example of what is wrong with unions when they go greedy like the corporations.
Let’s not be blind and foolish. Gov. Scott Walker does not have it all right here; the unions do not have it all right either.
Large numbers of workers are being left behind permanently. Businesses prosper here and abroad. The one thing, among others, different between businesses and government is the fact that businesses can pick up and go to any venue around the world to do business.
Government however, cannot just pick up and leave. This means that public service unions like AFT Local 212 should not hold taxpayers hostage to their demands. Our corporations don’t need us. Much of their revenues come from international markets.
Americans need the government because it is the only institution our society can depend on for stability. We pay into it. That does not mean others should take advantage of it.
American workers are in a world of hurt. The international community is at war with our economy. Anyone who thinks that we can win global economic war by hacking away at public schools and dismantling public services is a great candidate for a mental evaluation.
Robert Miranda is the executive director of Esperanza Unida Inc. and editor-in-chief of the Milwaukee Spanish Journal.
