For about a week, tens of thousands of men, women and children have been gathering at the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, protesting Gov. Scott Walker?s “budget repair” bill. Besides requiring sharp increases in employee contributions to pension and health insurance benefits, the bill strips most of the state?s public sector unions of almost all their collective bargaining rights.
If Walker?s bill passes, and salaries and benefits continue to be slashed by local governments with no negotiations necessary, it will be the most effective teachers, the best managers and the most successful university professors who will be the first to leave their jobs for the private sector.