Wisconsin's Assault on the Working-Class Cont.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is continuing his open assault on the hard-won "benefits" afforded those in the middle- and working-classes of his state. Part of the problem in America today is that we take so many things for granted. Take "sick leave," for instance. One of the bedrock principles throughout labor history is that if you get sick for a day or two now and then you can stay home -- in no small part so as to avoid contaminating your co-workers.

But now Walker (I can't even bring myself to grant him the title of "Governor") is poised to sign statewide legislation overturning a Milwaukee law that requires businesses to give employees paid sick leave. The measure was approved by Milwaukee residents with 69% of the vote. Apart from the bold overreach of using state law to usurp the will of the overwhelming majority of a city's voters, this is clearly another indication that anti-union, anti-worker Republicans are bound and determined to roll back the clock on workplace protections...apparently all the way back to the 19th century.

One of the primary purposes of paid sick leave is to encourage employees who are ill -- and potentially contagious -- to stay home so that they don't spread a flu bug (or perhaps pneumonia, mono or tuberculosis) around the entire office. Stripping workers of paid sick time is going to lead to more employees coming in coughing, sneezing and wheezing. And so we see once again, like so many union-backed achievements, the real benefit is to the collective: co-workers, customers and even the employer him- or herself. It's short-sighted to see otherwise.