As many of you are aware, several states across the country have been trying to balance their budgets. The entire country saw what was going on in Wisconsin. Gov. Scott Walker and the State Legislature were trying to deal with a $3.6 billion deficit.
One of the solutions the governor had proposed was for all state workers, including teachers, to pay a portion of their retirement and insurance benefits. The other controversial issue was restricting collective bargaining privileges, except on wages, for all public employees. Wisconsin is not the only state dealing with these issues. Indiana, Ohio and New Jersey are taking the same budget approach as Wisconsin.
There was a firestorm of opposition coming from several labor unions and the teachers’ union. President Obama was in Wisconsin at the time the protests were beginning and did an interview with a local television station, saying he didn’t know much about the situation in Wisconsin and had not been following it. It was interesting that at the same time of the interview, the president’s own website was calling for people to organize against Gov. Walker’s agenda.
To my knowledge, before last year’s general election, Wisconsin was the only state in the U.S. that was controlled by Democrat majorities and a Democrat governor, only to be replaced by Republican majorities in both the assembly and the senate, along with a new Republican governor. It was pretty obvious that Wisconsin voters wanted something different in their government.
I have a growing concern of why the president keeps imposing his views on state governments. This isn’t the first time. Arizona has been sued by the federal government because of the new immigration law the state enacted last year. What is even more alarming is that when a federal court judge ruled a law unconstitutional like “Obama Care,” the administration ignores the ruling and keeps implementing the law. The deep water oil drilling moratorium the administration placed on the Gulf of Mexico was denied by a federal court, yet it is still being enforced, although recently some drilling permits have been granted.
Now that the Wisconsin legislature has a Republican majority, it is trying to implement its agenda. When the budget repair bill was taken up the Democrats knew they didn’t have the votes to stop the bill. In an unprecedented move, 14 Wisconsin Democratic senators fled to Illinois to protest the vote. In order to have a quorum in the Wisconsin senate there must be at least one member from the minority party present when a vote emerges on budgetary issues.
To me, this move is troubling. After those Democrats left the state, Indiana Democrats did the same thing on basically the same issue. What kind of precedent is this setting? So now when one political party disagrees with the other they will hold democracy hostage until their demands are met?
The restriction of collective bargaining for public employees was the main issue that caused the Democrats to flee Wisconsin. This would, in all truth, severely limit the power of the unions. I question whether the Democratic senators so fiercely support the public employees or their union dues that are automatically collected to fund their political careers. Government employee unions appear to be a large conflict of interest. I assume that is why federal employees don’t have collective bargaining privileges. I can sympathize with public employees and their fear of losing security in their workplace.
In many cases I could see a positive result from this change. Under normal circumstances, the competence of a good employee would take priority over seniority. The quality and proven performance should dictate their compensation. I believe that great teachers, foresters, transportation and utility workers, etc., should be paid considerably higher than poor performers in their field. In the end I think we would have greatly improved schools and public services.
The reality is that state governments cannot continue to operate in the red. Hopefully, by the time you are reading this article, the problems in Wisconsin will be resolved. Across the U.S. we saw many states elect Republican congressmen and governors in 2010. We are all seeing that elections have consequences and Americans appear to want to see a change in how their government is operating.
To all of us in the logging industry, change and uncertainty are part of our everyday lives. We are subject to volatile fuel and wood prices which, for the most part, are out of our control. Large capital investments for equipment to remain competitive and efficient are the norm. We are in our industry by choice. We willingly accept the premise that our ambition and business sense will determine our success or failure. There are often some very challenging days, but most of us wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jensen is President of the American Loggers Council, which represents over 50,000 logging professionals in 30 states. Matt’s operation, Whitetail Logging, is headquartered in Crandon, Wis. For more information contact the American Loggers Council office at 409-625-0206 or e-mail [email protected].