但这种胶着的情况在本周发生了转变。周三,共和党占多数的州议会在本周三晚上紧急集会，提出将有关工会的议题从原来的财政提案中分离出来单独投票----因为按照威州有关法律，如果议案不涉及财政议题，则不必有超过2/3 的议员在场就能进行投票。周四，在14 名民主党议员仍然缺席的情况下,州议会投票以多数通过了限制公共事业工会会员们 collective bargaining 的法案。周五,州长签署了此法案,并取消了前几天发出的可能因为财政预算缺口而对 public sector 进行裁员的“威胁”(因为虽然没有通过具体的财政提案，但有了这个法案中限制工会 collective bargaining rights 的条款,州长就可以对公共事业工会会员的福利进行调整，并间接达到减少开支的目的)。根据威州州法,此法案现在交付州务卿手上,将在未来十天中对全州公民发布,成为 “The law of the land” 。对此,民主党和工会代表们自然非常愤怒,声称将挑战这个“用卑鄙手段达到削弱工会和民主党力量”的投票。除了继续在州议会进行抗议活动以外,反对者们还声言将对这个法案提出上诉;工会组织和民主党人们并誓言要在2012 年的选举中让Walker 和共和党为这个决议付出代价。
THanks for the comments! I agree that many "ordinary people" have suffered becuase of the globalization - in the form of lost jobs, but they also benefited from low cost goods that are produced in other countries where labor costs are low. So it's not really a "one-sided" loss or win.
I agree that "each and every one of us is weak in front of any great enterprize, we need to unionize in confroting a strong corpprate." But in the case of public sector unions, they are not organized to "confront a strong corporate" - they are unionized to confront - you and me, the taxpayers.
Ding! 工会大兴旺 is good, it's good to the common people.
I personally sympothetic to the Union and most of time support them. I will be very encouraged to see the revitalization of union.
Look people, each and every one of us is weak in front of any great enterprize, we need to unionize in confroting a strong corpprate.
Globalization is harming ordinary people and benifiting only a few. Most american are happy to buy cheap foreign goods, including Chinese goods, but they don't understand that is actually undermining their future opportunities.
I have traveled so many places in US, I have seen so many poor people, and poor towns, it's heart-broken.
政府公务员也好，私营公司也好，都是打工的，付出劳动拿工资。有些人看到的只是政府公务员的好处，怎么不看坏处？美国有一句口头禅：Morons work for governments? 为什么？原因之一是工资低，经济大环境好的时候也没奖金，有两个孩子的话那点工资不能养家， 所以有人根本就不去政府工作， 但政府工作又得有人干，所以就在长远福利上有好的地方。人各有所投，有些人愿意到私有公司挣高工资甚至发财，有些人要过平淡但稳定的生活。所以政府和政府顾员可能是有某种类似合同的东西的。大家愿意看到朱容基把为国有企业工作低工资奉献了一辈子最后一角踢开的情况吗？
vmvm 说出了所有我想说的话（and more)，深表钦佩。仅补充两点： 1 Walker (and I am on his side on this) may won the battle, but he might lose the war 2 威州及其邻州关于公会的这场争论的结局会影响未来二十年美国的走向
Thank you 昭君 for the article. I was looking for your piece right after the Bill was passwd.
This bill hurt a lot to state univ. faculties and staffs, because first their salaries are lot lower comparing to private sector for the same qualification, second, many of them have a have had raise-freeze for the last 5-7 years while all the other cost is going up,up up, so their income us worse, worse and worse.
The passing of the bill put more restrain to their aleady encumbered capability in defending their interest and should put out lot discouragement for people who wish to pursue an acadneic career. I am actually fear it shoyld cause further brain-drain to US intellectal society. The lavish benifit for the firefighters and police officers make the state U employee look pity and embarrass.
The Wissconsin politacal event should serve as a wake-up call to all the middle-income people to stand up and unite to defend their interest and fight the encrochment of serve-for-the-rich Replucan movement.
首先，就事论事的评论： 1. In 1959, Wisconsin became the first state to pass a collective bargaining law for public employees, 现在又领风气之先，第一个废除公共事业工会collective bargain right, 引人思索。
2. In private sector, 工会代表员工利益，其collective bargain具有重要与积极作用；必须要指出的是，工会和员工都清楚雇主有破产风险， to avoid a lose-lose situation, 劳资双方都有兴趣达成妥协。
3.公共事业员工与工会则鲜有以上考虑；更重要的是，其雇主是代表你我所有纳税人的政府或公共机构，换句话说，公共事业工会是在bargain with 纳税人。
4. 如果你赞同以下任何一种对于政府或公共机构的看法 -- “效率低下”，“浪费”，“代表利益集团”，“落后于国际竞争”，“傲慢与死板”，那么你就很难会对公共事业工会有好感。举个例子，在教师与学生有利益冲突时，教师工会只会偏向教师一方，所以教师is largely paid by seniority than performance, and it is very hard to remove "bad" teacher.
就事论事虽然简单，但实际情况总是更复杂；再继续往下讨论实在有点力不从心，但愿意在此抛砖引玉，provide some foods for thought –
6. Like it or not, 这一事件的讨论又成为 Dem vs. GOP。 与很多人一样，我并不赞同某一党的全部主张。对于改善债务窘境，常识告诉我们需要开源节流并举。两党政客并不傻，也许是他们太聪明了，知道如何取悦于其代表的利益集团来保住选票。工会就是一个利益集团。
7. 很多争论焦点都集中在个人所得税： a). 谁是富人? Is $250K/year the magic number? I am afraid not. b). 是否应对富人收更多的税？I am afraid yes. 但同时，今天的真正富翁据有更多的逃税或合理避税办法。单纯靠提高税率并不是最好的办法；在全球化的时代，资金总是会很快流向收益更高的地方 – 更加富裕的个人与企业并不总是(或总能)把益处带给本国政府与人民通过传统的就业与税收。
8. Globalization has changed the whole game! 在美国的 private sector, 工会伴随着制造业在进一步萎缩，面对全球化竞争，they have little leverage or choice! 公共事业工会已成为美国工会的绝对主体，这实在不是什么令人欣慰或自豪的事。The American has been spoiled； too many folks are good at complain and protest, only.
9. Globalization has changed the whole game!! 但美国政府与人民还没有真正的危机感与紧迫感。两党不是致力于提高美国的竞争力与应变能力，而是继续，甚至越加的互相攻击，究其一点不及其余。我们所需要的是思辩而不是谩骂，勇气而不是逃避，活力而不是懒惰，信心而不是侥幸，行动而不仅是心动 ^_^
