Gov. Walker’s Profile in Cowardice on the ‘Wrong for Wisconsin’ Right to Work Law Provides Preview for Nation

MADISON, Wis. — With the announcement that a “Wrong for Wisconsin” right to work bill is about to be rammed through the state legislature, the nation is starting to learn what Wisconsin already knows: Gov. Scott Walker will say and do anything to get elected. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross noted that before the November 2014 election Walker said he was not interested in a right to work law that lowers workers’ wages by an average of up to $6,000. But, post-election, presidential candidate Walker quickly announced he would sign just such a measure if it reaches his desk.

“Scott Walker is politics incarnate and he will say and do anything to get elected. He did it before and he’s doing it again,” noted Ross. “Far from being unintimidated, Scott Walker is a profile in cowardice.”

On Friday morning Republican state legislative leaders announced their intention to ram through an as yet unreleased right to work bill as quickly as possible in a seldom-used “extraordinary session” maneuver designed to suppress debate. While out of state raising cash in New York City for his 2016 campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, Walker indicated through a spokesperson he would sign the bill into law.

In the lead up to his November 2014 election Walker said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “I’m making it clear in this campaign, as I’ll make it clear in the next (legislative) session, that that’s not something that’s part of my agenda. I’m not supporting it …”

Data comparing right to work states vividly illustrates how wrong such laws are for all workers, regardless of whether they are in a union or not, and how the ripple effect reduces quality of life. Not only does the average work earn over $5,300 less per year in right to work states but also public schools are funded at significantly lower levels, fewer people have health care and even infant mortality rates are higher.

Ross concluded, “The nation is getting an up close look at the unscrupulous way Scott Walker operates. He claims he’s a bold leader who does what he says but that’s anything but the case. Now that his 2014 election is in the rear view mirror he’s declared he’ll sign a Wrong for Wisconsin right to work law he previously dismissed on the record as not a part of his agenda.”