AFSCME leadership fight will shape public employee union future

Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow Matthew Patterson Featured in The Washington Examiner

Unions are salivating at the opportunity to take down their arch-nemesis, Wisconsin’s Gov. Scott Walker.

Last year, Walker curtailed the collective bargaining power of Wisconsin’s public-sector employees and forced them to contribute more to their budget-busting health plans, all an effort to stem the tide of red ink swamping the state.

The results have been impressive: Once weighed down by a $3.6 billion deficit, Walker’s office now projects “a surplus for the first time in over 15 years.”

But unions never forgave Walker and have now collected enough signatures to force a recall election this summer. And it looks like Walker is in for the fight of his life.

http://cei.org/op-eds-articles/afscme-leadership-fight-will-shape-public-employee-union