When Teachers Behave Badly

It would have been easy to mistake Wisconsin’s unions for an angry third-world mob. For three weeks, state Republicans have been under assault from Big Labor over a collective bargaining agreement in the latest budget bill. By Wednesday, the assault was real. Angry throngs stormed the capitol after the state senate voted to pass the proposal without help from Democrats, who stomped out of the capital like angry toddlers and refused to work. A lot of the credit for yesterday’s vote goes to new Gov. Scott Walker (R), who stood his ground in what became a national standoff with union leaders, liberals, and even the President, who felt compelled to insert himself into the state’s business. Walker, who has just three months under his belt, refused to crumble under the pressure and plowed ahead to do what he had been elected to do: balance the budget. Within an hour of the vote, however, local protestors had “climbed through windows and flooded the Capitol.” According to the Associated Press, “protestors had seized the building’s lower floors, creating an ear-splitting, free-for-all of pounding drums, screaming chants, horns and whistles.” At one point, “Police gave up guarding the building entrances and retreated to the third floor.”

While some see it as a messy fight over worker rights, others see it as a fight for democracy. “Remember back during the health care debate when the Republicans fled D.C. to hide in hotels, the Tea Party protestors manhandled women & pushed people around culminating in that grand sacking of the Capitol we did?” RedState’s Ben Howe asked. “Of course you don’t. Because conservatives believe in protest as well as the rule of law. And when we don’t get our way, we win at the polls, not at the end of a stick.”

As shocking as yesterday’s riots were, it’s even more stunning how many Americans don’t make the connection between the Left and the unions. While members are faithfully sending in their dues, some of them have no idea that their leaders are not focused on making America competitive–but using their power to underwrite an agenda most of them would never support. From labor to education, unions have been walking in lock-step with the liberal agenda and this administration. We witnessed it with ObamaCare, as unions spent millions endorsing a law that many have since been exempted from. At the National Education Association (NEA), the radical politicking is legendary. The NEA officially supports same-sex “marriage,” abortion, and more recently, kids’ programs on sexual satisfaction. It even has its own Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Caucus. When Planned Parenthood made headlines for supporting child prostitution, Service Employees International Union rushed to the organization’s defense. Of course, these organizations don’t go out of their way to tell members about their positions, because they know a majority would oppose them! It’s time we started pulling back the curtain on the real union agenda so that more Americans understand where their dues are going.

Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.