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Dear Jack,
One year later, the union bosses in Wisconsin haven't relented.
Despite teacher militant "sick outs," bused-in out-of-state protesters, and a Democrat legislative walkout to delay a vote, on March 11, 2011 Governor Scott Walker signed a desperately-needed reform of Wisconsin's government unions -- including Right to Work protections for public employees.
Your National Right to Work Committee rallied public support for this and helped keep weak-kneed Republicans from caving in to Big Labor's pressure.
That's when Big Labor launched phase two. They filed frivolous lawsuits to dismantle the law in the courts and tried to retake the Wisconsin Senate with forced-unionism partisans.
And your National Right to Work organizations fought back in the courts and in the arena of public opinion.
And so far, the union bosses have failed. But now they're taking out the big guns.
The union bosses have launched their most aggressive strategy yet, and they're going to pull out all the stops -- no matter the cost -- to recall Scott Walker.
Your action was critical in encouraging Governor Walker and the legislature to stay the course against Big Labor last March.
Now I'm asking for you to join me in standing with Governor Walker again by signing the Letter of Encouragement I've prepared for you.
I will give you the link in a moment, but first I want to explain what's happening.
You see, amid reports last year that Governor Walker and the legislature were willing to cave in to Big Labor on the parts of the bill dealing with forced dues,
tens of thousands of your signed petitions were on their way to Madison to be hand-delivered to Governor Walker's office by National Right to Work Committee staff.
You showed Governor Walker that concerned citizens are paying attention and support officials who stand firm on their campaign pledges.
Ultimately, the bill passed with the Right to Work provision intact. And now the union bosses are desperate to undo it.
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That's why I ask you to sign your Letter of Encouragement to Governor Scott Walker right away.
You see, the union bosses are apoplectic that Scott Walker signed legislation that gives most government employees the Right to Work without having to pay tribute to a labor union.
Perhaps even more frightening for union bosses, the legislation stopped making the state the "bag man" for Big Labor by taking union dues directly out of workers' paychecks.
Not only that, the legislation took state and local government out of the hands of Big Labor, and put it back where it belongs -- with the taxpayers.
For years, government-sector union bosses have built up enormous political power and influence by extracting forced union dues from public employees and getting their own favored candidates elected to state and local government -- in effect, putting the union brass on both sides of the bargaining table and leading to fiscal nightmares the taxpayers cannot afford.
It's no wonder the union bosses are leaving no stone unturned to restore their special privileges and their forced-dues dollars -- and we've been there every step of the way fighting back.
Almost immediately after the bill was signed into law, union lawyers launched a series of legal assaults to repeal the law.
The Committee's sister organization, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, has filed briefs in court for independent-minded workers who support the reforms.
But the union hierarchy is going even further. The union bosses even attempted to hijack a nonpartisan election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and turn it into a referendum on Scott Walker.
Union bosses and their allies backed State Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg, who telegraphed her views and all-but promised to overturn the law if elected.
American Federation of Teachers Local 212 union officials neatly summed it up in a letter to members: "A Kloppenburg victory would swing the balance to our side. A vote for [incumbent justice David] Prosser is a vote for Walker. It's time to get even."
The judicial branch isn't supposed to be about getting even. It's about applying the constitution.
That's why it's unusual for your National Right to Work Committee to lobby judicial candidates, but we alerted our supporters in Wisconsin to this dangerous precedent.
Fortunately, the Wisconsin voters rejected Big Labor's attempted hijacking of the judicial election.
But the union bosses were just getting started.
Big Labor upped the ante over the summer by launching a $20 million campaign to recall Republicans in the State Senate who supported the government-sector Right to Work law.
The National Right to Work Committee blitzed the districts with three separate mailings totaling almost 200,000 pieces of mail, making sure constituents knew where each candidate stood on forced dues, and asking them to call the pro-forced unionism politicians and demand they change their ways.
The people of Wisconsin took care of the rest.
Without the generosity and commitment of Right to Work supporters in these battles, the union bosses and their allies may have succeeded in their schemes to take over the Wisconsin Supreme Court and retake the State Senate with forced-unionism proponents.
And now that the union bosses and their allies are gearing up to spend even more in their desperate attempt to recall Scott Walker, those of us who support worker freedom must fight back.
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So please, click here to sign your Letter of Encouragement to Governor Scott Walker.
And if you can, please chip in with a contribution of $10 or more today.
We will really turn up the heat -- mail, phones, email and internet ads, radio, even TV ads if funding permits -- to inform Wisconsin voters about the effects of the reforms and where the candidates stand.
It's crucial we not let the union bosses drown out the voices of those who support worker freedom.
Your action was critical in encouraging Governor Walker to stand up to Big Labor one year ago, and I know I can continue to count on you going forward.
And you can count on your Committee -- just as we did during the legislative battle, the judicial election, and the State Senate recalls -- to make sure the issue of worker freedom versus forced-union dues isn't swept under the rug.
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I hope
you'll act right away.
Sincerely,
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Mark Mix
P.S. The union bosses and their allies are trying to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker for signing into law legislation limiting the union bosses' stranglehold over Wisconsin taxpayers and government employees.
Please, sign your Letter of Encouragement to Governor Walker right away!
And if you can, please chip in with a contribution of $10 or more today.
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