Now the line is that of course the teachers are glad to make concessions, even those as large as Walker asks for, they just want their dignity. They just want a voice. They just want to have a right to input into these decisions. That is all. As stated this all sounds quite, as the Walkerism goes, “modest” but the sweet, empty innocence of this bleat reveals that either these people have never been employed out in The World or perhaps they were and ran off screaming in afright of it. My fellow K&S veterans, current and retired might recall all the input and voice and dignity occurring two years ago come March the Tenth.

I will fault in no way either our immediate management, the firm at large or the legal profession. What follows is standard practice in almost any corporate setting for reasons of liability exposure and security but apparently things are handled much differently in a unionized, government workplace. First off, there was no keeping this under wraps. Scuttlebutt was spot on regarding what we have come to refer to as Judgement Day.

The first thing greeting anyone walking in the door on Judgement Day is an unmistakeable and collective dread. You know what it is, of course, but you don’t really believe it until someone says it flat out. Yup, it’s happened. Layoffs. Then comes a bit of a wait. The pattern becomes plain very quickly. Everyone has a talk. Either you have the short talk and go back to the job (looking oh so busy!) or you get the long talk, which is still not more than fifteen minutes, and return to your desk where your computer is locked, turn in your ids and gear (I might be the only one who HAD gear) and pack your shit. As a last luxury you might use new boxes.

The sum total of your input amounts to either signing away your unemployment claims for your severance or not doing so. Bargaining, collective or otherwise, was never on the program. And why would it be? The firm was making hard-nosed business decisions in large part precipitated by the scrambling dash to prevent the UAW from, hmmm, paying for their own retirements and healthcare. Sound familiar? Now, I would suspect that K&S had about as much chance of closing its doors from lack of funding as Wisconsin does but that is not the point. The point is that no where does a job exist to give you a chair you are entitled to. A job exists to get something done that needs doing. Once this is inverted and jobs are an end in themselves; an asset to be bartered and maybe even bequeathed, what happens is exactly what has happened. The payroll balloons until it can balloon no more. Then comes collapse and the checks start bouncing.

So if you are tempted to side with the unionists in Wisconsin just remember what they are demonstrating for; an $89,500 sinecure that means showing up eight months of the year minus every holiday you ever heard of (and some you haven’t) and also a level of dignity and “input” that no one out in The World can reasonably expect.

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