Wisconsin Right to Work officially launched a mission Monday underscored by the legislative freedom to choose to participate in labor unions.
After the re-election of Gov. Scott Walker and the passage of Walker’s 2011 Budget Repair Bill, public discourse regarding workers’ unions has spiked. WRTW is a nonpartisan organization that supports citizen engagement and focuses on the right to participate or not to participate in a union.
“Wisconsin’s public employees have already demonstrated their strong desire for their right to choose as evidenced by the sharp decline in enrollment in the teacher’s unions,” WRTW Executive Director Lorri Pickens said in a statement.
The emergence of WRTW in the state political sphere was opposed by state Senate Leader-elect Jennifer Shilling, D-LaCrosse, as well as the Wisconsin American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. Both argued for the struggling working class, urging job growth efforts according to individual statements.
The AFL-CIO took a firm stance against the emergence of such an organization.
“Right to Work is nothing more than an attempt by corporate special interests to drive down wages and erode the middle class,” said Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt in a statement.
Neuenfeldt concluded the AFL-CIO statement by saying Wisconsin is moving in the wrong direction.
Shilling also expressed disappointment in Walker’s policies with her Monday release.
“We’ve seen the unfortunate impact of previous anti-worker policies that have taken money out of our local communities and made it more difficult for working families to make ends meet,” Shilling said in the release.
