WASHINGTON — On the heels of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s history-making recall victory, the governor of nearby Indiana with his own record of curtailing union benefits suggested public-sector unions are past their prime and should be abolished.
“I think, really, government works better without them,” Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) told “Fox News Sunday,” when asked whether public-worker unions should even exist.
Daniels had cracked down on collective bargaining for state workers as soon as he took office in 2005, six years before Walker and his GOP allies in the state legislature started down the same path — triggering a backlash that forced him to stand for election this past Tuesday.
Walker made history as the first governor to survive the recall test, beating Democrat Tom Barrett.
Daniels said that vote should send a message about the problems with public-sector unions.
“I think the message is that, first of all, voters are seeing the fundamental unfairness of government becoming its own special interest group, sitting on both sides of the table,” he said.
Daniels said private-sector unions, while in decline in America, remain “necessary.” But he suggested the public-sector unions have hobbled governments by gobbling up taxpayer resources with generous benefits and salaries and “bulletproof” job protections.
Daniels said he hopes Tuesday’s election marks “some kind of turning point” in addressing the public union system.
Top representatives of that system, though, pushed back on the idea that the Wisconsin election opens the door to a dismantling of public-union benefits.
Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, said Walker’s victory was in part a product of “unlimited corporate funding in elections.” He said Walker’s side simply was able to push out its message better than the governor’s opponents.
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