I rarely write essays on specific political events. I normally stick to broad topics or areas I have personal experiences about. I do not have the experience or knowledge to really judge what is happening out in afar away in the upper Midwest State, known primarily for its agriculture and for its various progressive leaders over the years. Yet, I feel particularly strongly about this issue and think its important to raise my voice about it.

Listening to the Rachel Maddow Podcast of Fridays show I learned many things. I learned about how Wisconsin is a state with eight towns named Union, with a proud tradition of being a state where average people band together to try to get a better bargain for themselves. Wisconsin is a place where farmers band together to negotiate a better price with big processors, a place where workers band together to get a fair wage.

Wisconsin, as I learned from Rachel Maddow, is the state that literally brought us the weekend. Workers banned together to form unions and demand a 40-hour work week, and to make not just Sunday a day of rest, but also Saturday too. The demands of organized workers lead not just to better conditions and more time off for the organized, but for all Americans. The idea that most people would work on Saturday and more then five days a week is unthinkable today.

We live in a society of laws and rules, designed to protect both individuals and institutions alike. While pursuant to the US Constitution, each state has the right to dedicate what terms public employees operate under, with most states allowing public employees to organize and join unions. The unions push for a fair bargain at the table for the workers they represent. Management and political leaders choose how much money they want to spend at each agency, and they negotiate with unions based on the money available. If managers can not get the cost savings they desire, managers can lay employees off to reach their spending targets. Fewer employees means less union dues and less clout for the union.

The Wisconsin governor has the right to lay off state employees after asking for concessions from the union. The established rules make it clear that this is the executives right to do. Certainly more workers at a discounted price to Wisconsin in this troubled economic times would be the preferred solution to layoffs. This should come from the established process, not by changing the rules mid-negotiations. Just like its not fair to change the rules in the middle of a game of Chess to benefit one side over another, its not fair for the Wisconsin governor to change the rules just so he can a better deal from public employees

Wisconsin State Employees should continue have the right to unionize, and the Wisconsin Governor should not change the rules just because hes not making his desired progress in negotiations. Thats only fair.