Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Union-Busting GOP Governor Scott Walker Demands Return Of Unionized NFL Referees


By Travis Waldron/Think Progress
The National Football League’s decision to lock out its unionized officials at the beginning of this season has had serious consequences, as the incompetence of the replacement referees has jeopardized player safety, led to obvious mistakes, and drawn criticism from fans, the media, coaches, and players. And now, elected officials are getting their jabs in too.
After the Green Bay Packers were robbed of a win by an blown call during Monday Night Football, union-busting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) — a Packers fan — took to Twitter this morning to demanded the return of the league’s unionized officials:
Walker’s sudden support of union labor is surprising, given his push for a radical union-busting law that effectively ended collective bargaining for many of Wisconsin’s public employees. The law, which Walker and his fellow Republicans pitched as necessary to fix Wisconsin’s budgetbefore admitting that it was the “first step” in an anti-union strategy, was so unpopular that it led to massive protests outside the state capitol in Madison and recall elections against Walker and six Republicans in the state senate.
Multiple Packers players, incidentally, urged Wisconsinites to vote against Walker in the recall. And while Walker decries the scab officials who replaced union labor on the football field, he doesn’t hold himself to the same standard: after his union-busting law went into effect, union workers were replaced with prison labor.

No comments: