By Shawn Johnson
WPR
MADISON — Labor expert Gary Chaison says the split of prison guards from the Wisconsin State Employees Union (WSEU) is a “warning shot” to unions nationwide.
Chaison is a professor of labor relations at the Massachusetts-based Clark University where he teaches courses on collective bargaining and the history of strikes in America. He says the decision by prison workers to split off from the once-powerful Wisconsin State Employee Union and form the Wisconsin Association for Correctional Law Enforcement was “gutsy,” but that only time will tell if it was a smart one.
“In times of uncertainty, you can’t necessarily say that smaller is better in the world of unions,” says Chaison.
Chaison says with a shift toward more austerity in government, unions nationally are in more of a defensive mode. Big public employee unions that don’t have the negotiating power they once did are constantly looking for ways to keep their smaller bargaining units happy.
Full story: Labor Expert: Prison Guard Split Is ‘Warning Shot’ To Unions