Republicans - creating a labor movement

In an earlier post I noted that the Wisconsin's union busting tactics were likely to create a labor movement where none really existed. See this from a New York Times/CBS News poll: [Majority in Poll Back Employees in Public Sector Unions - NYTimes.com].

The Wisconsin governor may have been hoisted by his own petards in his attempt to become the republican anti-union darling. He is attempting to leverage a perception, possibly self generated, that public sector employees are not only paid too much but are receiving too generous of retirement and health benefits at the expense of taxpayers.

But having "won" with little effort concessions from the public employees - he sees it as the right time to rid  the public employees of their collective bargaining rights. He may have won a budget battle but hasn't won the war he started.

This editorial Budget battle: Media vs. taxpayers from a neighboring Michigan newspaper implicitly makes my point. See too the headlines from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and one of their blogs.