Washington, DC – Amalgamated Transit Union International President Larry Hanley released the following statement in reaction to Governor Walker’s presidential plan to bar federal public unions.
“Governor Scott Walker’s latest proposal to all but eradicate American labor unions won’t revive his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. It is likely, in fact, to pound the last nail into the coffin of his dying campaign.
“It’s no secret that the Koch Brothers have been using Walker’s busted bandwagon as a vehicle to bully the middle class, the poor and the weak by stripping their unions of all power. The only surprise is that the Koch/Walker operation has been forced to reveal their real plan a lot earlier than they intended – before the campaign implodes altogether.
“The desperate ploy won’t work because everyday Republicans are beginning to realize that the Koch/Walker movement is not just attacking unions – it’s attacking every person who works. They see the plain truth that the Koch/Walker proposal would aggravate the growth of economic inequality in America, and accelerate the exodus of middle class workers into the ranks of the working poor.
“Put simply, the Koch/Walker program would undermine the economic security of the very people they’re asking to vote for them.
“In addition, the Koch/Walker movement is running counter to Americans’ growing support for unions. The recent Gallop poll reveals that Americans’ approval of labor unions has jumped five percentage points to 58% over the past year, and is now at its highest point since 2008.
“Fortunately, most Americans have the good sense to dismiss the Koch/Walker plan as just another scheme to shovel more money from working families into the vast coffers of the world’s ultra-rich. It is only a matter of time, or how much money the Koch brothers are willing to waste, until the Wisconsin governor fades into the footnotes of labor history.”