Unions

Unions

Fay Stewart

Human Capital Management HRM/531

February 28, 2012

Dennis Heins

Unions

Unions began to form in the United States in the mid-19th century. During this time unions were seen as criminal that engaged in violence and vandalism. Two centuries later, unions are seen as a force for employees receiving what is just due. In 2011 Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker introduced a bill that became law to strip public workers of some or all of their collective bargaining rights. Unions have many benefits and the process to become unionized is long. Once a union is established they will use collective bargaining to assist their members in receiving a labor contract. The relationship between the union and employer is a continuous process.

Wisconsin Public Workers

The State of Wisconsin public workers unions came in to fire when Governor Scott Walker took office. Walker campaigned on fighting for the everyday normal residents; the people who do not have a taxpayer supplied union mechanism. Governor Walker took notice that Wisconsin and other states have public employee pension plans that have escalated out of control and the disruptions to the governments it has and will cause in the form of fiscal damage. Wisconsin’s budget problems started when a series of tax cuts began in 2003 and in 2011 bills passed to provide additional tax cuts and deductions for businesses. Tax cuts have led to a budget shortfall, which led to the Governor introducing the Budget Repair Bill. The bill proposed to take away the ability of public section unions to collective bargain over pensions and health care, limit pay raises to the rate of inflations, stop auto deductions to pay union dues, and other spending measures. The bill did not include any public safety workers. The reasoning behind the bill, it would save thousands of people from being laid off. While Democratic representatives fled the state so no vote could be brought upon, thousands of protestors began...