Wisconsin Governor Threatens To Replace Union Workers With National Guard

Wisconsin Governor Threatens To Replace Union Workers With National Guard: "'The right to join a union and collectively bargain is a freedom that people have died to protect. To have anyone threaten to wipe it away with minimal public debate, deliberation or discussion is
unconscionable,' said Janice Bobholz, an employee with the Dodge County Sheriff's Department and a resident of Beaver Dam.

The governor's proposal is especially painful given Wisconsin's long history of collective bargaining.

'[Walker's proposal] really represents a break in a 50 year tradition,' McCartin said. 'I think it's really significant and its implications are frightening for public sector unions not just in
Wisconsin but over much of the country.'

In Ohio, collective bargaining rights for state workers are no more secure. Republican Senator Shannon Jones has proposed a similar bill to Walker's, and last month, Ohio governor John Kasich said that if employees strike, 'they should be fired.'

However, he has not yet threatened to call in the National Guard.

'It's hard to imagine why that had to be raised except to purposely stoke a fire,' McCartin said. 'It's a painful history that Wisconsin has had in that respect and to raise the specter of calling in the National Guard seems totally unwarranted in this case.'"