Perhaps They Should Stop and Listen to Each Other

The editorial Wrong In Wisconsin discusses the current turmoil in Wisconsin over legislation dealing with public employee unions. Republican state lawmakers in Wisconsin are currently trying to strip public employee unions of the right to collective bargaining in an attempt to bridge the gap in the state deficit. The editorialist in this editorial takes the position that the lawmakers are wrong and that the unions rights should be maintained, but that overall neither side is listening to the other adequately enough to come to an agreement. They go on to say that while perhaps raising the workers contributions is necessary, taking away the unions collective bargaining rights isn't the answer. The editorialist goes on further to suggest that perhaps a solution that both sides could agree on would be the creation of panels to represent taxpayers interests in setting pension obligations or just cutting union influence on elections. The editorial is directed at any audience that would be following union issues or perhaps even towards the lawmakers themselves. The author gives no personal information to gain credibility but by mentioning facts and forming an educated opinion, comes off as someone with thoughts worth considering. Personally, I don't think that cutting collective bargaining is the answer, but I also don't think that the Republicans are in the wrong attempting to cut the budget and shouldn't be vilified for trying to do so. I agree with the editorialist in their idea that the lawmakers and union should stop to take the time to listen to each other and make a compromise.