Should Voters be Given the Chance to Restore Collective Bargaining Rights?

On Tuesday, voters in Ohio shot down a new law that would have limited or stripped bargaining rights of more than 350,000 public employees, similar to the law passed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker earlier this year.

The political magnitude of the vote is being felt in Wisconsin where efforts to recall Walker are about to get underway, and has raised this question by at least one state senator:

Why not let the voters decided if workers should have collective bargaining rights?

State Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, who has constituents in Greenfield, believes the Ohio vote to restore workers’ rights demonstrates voters want a direct say in matters that affect working families.

Earlier this summer, Carpenter introduced a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin constitution to protect workers rights – public and private – to collectively bargain wages, benefits, hours, and work conditions.

“This year’s passage of a bill in Wisconsin that effectively eliminates collective bargaining for most public employees has put Wisconsinites through a traumatic period of our history,” Carpenter said in a statement. “When similar legislation was introduced in Ohio, the voters successfully rose up to repeal this overreach of government.

"In Wisconsin, voters do not have the ability to directly repeal legislation. However, voters in Wisconsin can have a direct say in passing an amendment to our constitution.”

For Carpenter's proposed amendment to get to a statewide vote, it would have to pass through two consecutive sessions of the Republican-led state legislature. In Ohio, 61 percent of voters voted to restore workers rights, fueling Carpenter’s belief his amendment would pass in Wisconsin as well.

“Let the people decide,” Carpenter said. “The people of Wisconsin should not have to wonder each time there is a change in the majority parties in our government whether the ability to collectively bargain will likewise change. Providing this constitutional guarantee will provide much needed stability to our political process, to our economy, and to our workers and their families.”

The political makeup of Wisconsin, however, is not the same as in Ohio, so comparing the Ohio vote to a similar, hypothetical one in Wisconsin is no easy task. The Washington Post suggests unions and Democrats will use the Ohio vote as fodder for its recall effort against Walker. Petitions to collect the necessary 540,000 signatures of those in favor of a recall will begin Monday, but Walker suggested to the Washington Post the Ohio vote might have gone the way it did because voters there had not seen "any of the benefits" people in Wisconsin had seen.