According to
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, eliminating collective bargaining rights for public workers was really the least his close ally Gov. Scott Walker could do. Asked by a reporter if Walker's plans initially came as a shock, Fitzgerald answered:
No, it wasn’t a shock to me. I knew we had to put major reforms in place ... My caucus wanted to go further. I had people in my caucus that was, you know, were wondering if we were going to do Right to Work in this state. So to tell you the truth, the collective bargaining, to me, I thought was more of a middle ground if you can believe that.
Walker continues to insist that he does not want to pass the free rider legislation in question. But he cosponsored such a bill in 1993 as a state legislator. More recently, in his
notorious conversation with billionaire donor Diane Hendricks, he referred to his assault on collective bargaining for public workers as "the first step" in a "divide and conquer" strategy. Not exactly how you talk if you're only planning one anti-union bill.
Walker's future plans may have been disrupted by tens of thousands of protesters and a recall threat (though not disrupted enough; consider his repeal of Wisconsin's Equal Pay Enforcement Act), but since we won't know the true extent of the anti-worker legislation he'd like to pass unless he wins the June 5 recall election and remains governor, let's do what we can to avoid finding out.