Public employee coverage political?
On Feb. 27, hundreds of thousands of public employees and supporters attended rallies at the capitols in most states in support of the public employees in Wisconsin. There were 80,000-100,000 in Wisconsin alone. Public employees are the targets of the governor of Wisconsin, and are in danger of losing their hard-won collective bargaining rights.
No matter what you think about unions and similarly organized groups, this is an attack on the ability for two sides to sit down to work together to decide conditions and benefits for workers. Collective bargaining in the public and private sector has been an important part of the “American way.”
The Wisconsin governor is trying to bust the unions as a way of weakening his political opposition. The public employees have already agreed to concessions, yet they are now proceeding to pink-slip all teachers in the state. Other public employees have been promised the same. Republican legislators are trying to push through the bills, while Democratic legislators have left the state to try to work out a compromise without the pressure.
I am confused why an event of these proportions has been minimized by the media. The Daily Herald placed it on Page 8, while the front page featured tattoo artists. CNN ran a one minute segment while allotting 20 minutes to a senator and cross-dressers. This is also happening with other media outlets. I don't understand the priorities. Do the media outlets all serve political purposes?
Timothy M. Brinker
Glen Ellyn