MADISON, Wis. – Republican presidential contender Scott Walker is hoping to pull his campaign off the mat by taking on unions – a familiar foe for the Wisconsin governor – in a sweeping plan to upend pillars of organized labor nationwide.
Walker’s plan calls for eliminating unions for employees of the federal government, making all workplaces right-to-work unless individual states vote otherwise and scrapping the federal agency that oversees unfair labor practices.
Union leaders are livid. Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union that represents 150,000 federal workers, said Walker is “declaring a war on middle-class workers.” And Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton accused him of bullying union members.
One of Walker’s Republican rivals challenged the plan, too, saying it is the wrong message for the GOP to send to unionized workers. “Instead of treating all union members like they are the enemy,” said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, “it’s time we invite them to give some of us in our party a try.”
In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, Walker said no one should be surprised.
“I think people would be shocked if the governor who took on big government special interests wouldn’t do it at the federal level,” Walker said by telephone as he waited to board a plane to Nevada.
In his speech spelling out his “Power to the People” proposal at a Las Vegas manufacturer, Walker said he didn’t back down against union protesters in Wisconsin, and he was ready for the national fight.
“Collective bargaining is not a right, it is an expensive entitlement,” he said, speaking with his sleeves rolled up, in between a pair of oversized construction vehicles and in front of a large American flag.
Bob Denoto, a 53-year-old electrician and union recruiter, was in Las Vegas from New York for a union conference and decided to stop by Walker’s event. He didn’t like what he heard.
“I know what the union has given me and my family,” he said. “Some day, when I’m old and broken down, I’m going to be able to retire without government assistance.”
Walker’s move comes as he tries to gain traction heading into the second GOP presidential debate, to be held Wednesday in California. A weak performance in the first debate and a series of missteps has contributed to his tumble from the polls after his strong start months ago.
“I think it’s a good move,” said Richard Schwarm, a former GOP chairman in the early caucus state of Iowa who is uncommitted in the 2016 race. “It gets a lot of attention on him in the next day or two.”
Walker won nationwide recognition for eviscerating public-sector unions in Wisconsin and becoming the first governor to prevail in a recall election, which followed huge protests against his anti-union steps. Now he’s proposing to go national with an effort to curb union clout.
“It’s reminding people of the reason they liked us in the first place,” Walker said in the interview, brushing aside with laughter a question about whether the move was a sign of desperation.
The reaction from labor groups and Democrats, their traditional political ally, was fierce.
“Scott Walker can now add one-trick pony to his résumé, right underneath national disgrace,” said AFL-CIO spokesman Eric Hauser. “His campaign is floundering and so he does what he always does when he can’t think of real solutions. He attacks workers.”
