Why the anti-union animosity?

Much more difficult with them - as General Motors, Chrysler, the former U.S. steel and textile producers discovered

i don't agree with that either, i think there should be maximum wages as well as minimum wages

...So, what's behind all of this? In part, it's an insight into the Tea Party's political agenda: weakening the unions in order, perhaps, to see them killed off altogether. In Wisconsin, they're also planning radical measures to weaken state control over health programmes, as well as sending back hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds intended to contribute towards local infrastructure projects.

Republican leaders say it's all about cutting costs – and state employees should bear their share of the pain. In Ohio, for instance, their average pay is considerably higher than for equivalent private-sector workers, and their benefits and pension rights are far more generous. According to a spokesman for Ohio's governor, John Kasich, there is no hidden politics involved: "This is an effort to save the state, no agendas," he says.

Unions, however, aren't exactly popular. Their support among the general population has declined significantly since their heyday. When Gallup last polled on the issue, around 18 months ago, it found that less than half of all Americans approved of unions, compared to 72 per cent who supported them back in the 1930s. Wisconsin's governor, Scott Walker, claims that his office gets about 1,000 emails a day on the current fight, mostly in support of his measures.

But here's the money question: in a quintessential struggle over the very existence of trade unions and their rights to organise, who benefits – and who pays? The New York Times reveals that the long-time union opponents Charles and David Koch, both billionaires, have been among the biggest financial contributors to Governor Walker's campaign. They also support a conservative group called Americans for Prosperity, which will start running anti-union advertisements in the Badger State over the next few days.

And in last year's gubernatorial elections, guess who raised money for Walker's opponent? That's right – the unions. As the fight for the White House in 2012 looms ever closer, money, power and organisation will be the only priorities in town. Turns out this isn't just a battle over labour rights, after all.

Comments, anyone?

Always the gentleman.

busy, intrusive, authoritarian

Pots, kettles

Wow. Now you get a blast for asking for opinions.

Union Representation

In 2010, 16.3 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union. This group includes both union members (14.7 million) and workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract (1.6 million). (See table 1.) Government employees (783,000) comprised about half of the 1.6 million workers who were covered by a union contract but were not members of a union. (See table 3.)

Earnings

In 2010, among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings of $917, while those who were not represented by unions had median weekly earnings of $717. (See table 2.) In addition to coverage by a collective bargaining agreement, the difference reflects a variety of influences including variations in the distributions of union members and nonunion employees by occupation, industry, firm size, or geographic region.