Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) signed legislation that will further gut unions’ power in Wisconsin on Monday morning, his latest victory over labor as he moves toward a presidential run.
{mosads}Walker signed “right to work” legislation that bans unions from collecting dues from any individual without his or her express permission, making Wisconsin the 25th state with such a law. States that have passed similar legislation have seen major drop-offs in the number of union workers and the power of organized labor.
The move is a big reversal for Walker, who had called such legislation a “distraction” in recent months during his hard-fought 2014 reelection.
“We’re not going to do anything with right-to-work,” he said in October.
The shift from last fall could raise questions about his consistency, though Walker has long been an enemy of union groups and supported right-to-work legislation back when he was in the Legislature. His high-profile fight to limit the power of public sector unions and his subsequent victory in a 2012 recall election made him a hero on the right and is a big part of why he’s an early front-runner for the GOP nomination.
The governor laid out his rationale for backing right-to-work legislation in a Friday op-ed, though he made no mention of his shift from last fall.
“I’ve supported Freedom to Work for years, dating back to my time in the state legislature when I co-sponsored it. And now the people of Wisconsin have voiced their support through their state Senators and representatives,” he said in the op-ed, published on conservative blog RedState.
He argued that the law is “pro-freedom and pro-work for Wisconsin.”