Expert says breaking up unions in Wisconsin is a temporary fix

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States across the country are facing deficits. Many, including California, are looking to reel in state employee pensions to curb some of the budget shortfall. But no state has yet to go as far as Wisconsin. The state's governor, Scott Walker, wants the state senate to vote on a bill that would eliminate most collective bargaining powers on issues such as pay raises and working conditions.

USC History Professor and labor expert Steven Ross says collective bargaining gives workers a seat at the table to negotiate their pay, benefits and hours.

"It took labor from the beginning of the country until 1935 to get the right to collective bargaining, and now one governor is trying to eliminate [it]. It's very anti-democratic," Ross said.

Without collective bargaining, workers only have one weapon- to strike.

The fourteen Wisconsin democratic senators have fled the state and are hiding out in Illinois in light of the strikes. This blocks a vote on the bill. The state senate needs at least 20 people to vote on the measure, and right now there are only 19 republican senators.

Supporters of the anti-union bill say unions have had a strong-hold over negotiations, causing state pensions to balloon to unreasonable amounts. They say the bill is intended to give the government more control over pay in order to reduce budget deficits.

Ross says that type of thinking is what they call the "poison bill."

"In the short term, you might have some savings, but in the long term you are going to cause a warfare between employers and employees," he said.

Ross says in the last few decades federal spending has increased without the same rate of increases in taxes. This makes large public employee pensions a natural target to help close budget deficits.

California has already reduced pensions for new workers. But Ross says California is a long way from stripping workers of union protections because Jerry Brown is less inclined to be a union buster.

Though California isn't following in Wisconsin's footsteps, other states are. Republican legislators in Ohio have already planned hearings on a bill that would curb state workers rights to unionize, including the right of firefighters and police to collectively bargain.

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Researched and written by Jessica Flores. Reported by Stephanie Guzman.

Photos courtesy of Flickr user jizo.sama