Walker Supports National Right to Work Bill
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, having just signed a state Right to Work law for the Badger State, recently commented he would support a national Right To Work law also. O. Kay Henderson
has the story on Iowa Radio.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says he has the “courage…and capacity†to take on powerful interests, including unions, at the federal level.
Walker, a Republican who is likely to enter the presidential race soon, signed a “right to work†law in Wisconsin this year and he sees a need for a similar federal law.
“As much as I think the federal government should get out of most of what it’s in right now, I think establishing fundamental freedoms for the American people is a legitimate thing and that would be something that would provide that opportunity in the other half of America to people who don’t have those opportunities today,†Walker said this morning during an interview with Radio Iowa.
Twenty five states, including Iowa and Wisconsin, have “right-to-work†laws that forbid organized labor from forcing non-union workers to pay union dues or fees in a workplace where employees have voted to unionize. Soon after he was elected governor in 2010, Walker gained attention and plaudits from Republicans and business interests across the country by pushing to make changes in tenure and benefits for teachers and public employees in Wisconsin.
“Really what we did wasn’t just fight unions. It was fight the stranglehold that big government special interests had on state and local governments,†Walker said today. “I think in Washington we need that even more.â€
The federal government has “grown too much,†according to Walker, and, if elected president, he’d seek changes in the civil service system for federal employees.“For example, we got rid of seniority and tenure. You can hire and fire based on merit. You can pay based on performance,†Walker said. “We found in our schools and our local and state governments you can put the best and the brightest in those positions.â€