Teachers from one of Wisconsin's largest unions have jumped ship -- voting overwhelmingly to abandon the group in the latest in a string of setbacks for the struggling labor movement following Gov. Scott Walker's union overhaul two years ago.The decision this week to disband by members of the Kenosha Education Association came after the organization was stripped of its certification and told it had lost its power to bargain for base wages with the district. The group was decertified after missing a key deadline in the annual reapplication process.
The development is in keeping with an overall downward spiral for Wisconsin's public worker unions. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported earlier this year that tens of thousands of teachers and other government workers have left their unions since the Walker-backed law took effect.
Matt Patterson, labor analyst with the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, claimed the vote was a sign that workers were turning their backs on the unions.
"The news today proves what unions have long feared -- that when workers are actually given a free and fair choice, they will often choose opt out of union membership altogether," he said.
"The public at large -- and an increasing number of union members -- have become wise to the fact labor unions stifle innovation and burden governments and businesses with unsustainable costs and regulations."
Shocked, Surprised and Amazed!