The Domino Effect: Why Union Laborers should care about what's happening in Wisconsin

State employees in Wisconsin are protesting a plan that will limit their rights to collective bargaining (in addition to cutting some benefits). So, why should you care? Well, let's start by defining what we're talking about here. Collective bargaining is a process of voluntary negotiations between an employer and a group of employees (e.g., a trade union) to negotiate conditions of employment (e.g., wages, working hours, safe workplace conditions, etc.). Collective bargaining is important because it allows employees (who typically have fewer individual resources at their disposal as compared to employers) to organize and negotiate for better working conditions. If you have an appreciation for things like the minimum wage, overtime pay, and the weekend, you have collective bargaining to thank. Now, one of the issues that has been raised with regard to the situation in Wisconsin is the issue of whether state employees (as opposed to employees in the private sector) have the right to collective bargaining. That is a fair question, and the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution states, "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, and one of those privileges is the right to bargain collectively - set forth by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935; As well as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in which Article 23 states that "Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests." But, we don't live in Wisconsin, so again, why should we care about this? Well, there are at least two big reasons to care. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere - Martin Luther King, Jr. We cannot afford to sit idle or bear witness to violations of human rights. Threats in Wisconsin make us all more vulnerable. Threats to state employees also affect those who do not work for the government. We are one people and we have to defend human rights whenever and wherever they are threatened.

Lastly - what is happening in Wisconsin is a Domino Effect. If for some reason they succeed in striping public sector worker rights in the Midwest, then it is only a matter of time before they take away the building trades rights in the Northeast.