By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s easy victory in a June recall election has convinced Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, that the tired union strategy of trying to remove political opponents from office may be a mistake.

Walker was the target of a massive recall effort led by the Wisconsin Education Association Council and several other large unions. Labor leaders were angry about Act 10, Walker’s signature legislation that limits collective bargaining privileges for public sector unions.

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Walker easily survived the recall election, collecting a higher percentage of the vote than he did when he was originally elected in 2010. The message attached to his easy victory was not lost on labor leaders.

Van Roekel told the Washington Times in a recent interview that voters generally dislike the idea of removing  elected officials in mid-term. He said unions might be smarter pursuing ballot initiatives to change policies they don’t like, rather than trying to punish the authors of those policies.

“The lesson I learned is that I don’t think recalls are the way to go,” Van Roekel told the Washington Times in a recent interview.

The effort to recall Walker was not isolated. In Idaho, union officials circulated petitions last year to recall state Superintendent Butch Otter, but failed to collect enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot. The same thing happened in Michigan, where several unions unsuccessfully tried to remove Gov. Rick Snyder.

Otter and Snyder are both architects of new laws that clipped union domination of public schools.

While those recall efforts were high profile, perhaps the most damaging efforts come at the local level. Local teachers unions in Michigan have repeatedly used the state’s recall statute to intimidate school board members for years.  At the very least they hope the threat of public rejection and humiliation will scare their critics into submission.

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In some cases, the efforts have been successful and good school board members have actually lost their seats.

Van Roekel is absolutely correct. The unions would gain a lot more respect if they stuck to debating the issues at hand and worked to elect their preferred candidates at the appropriate time. They come across as strong-arm bullies when they make the debate personal and publicly attack honest officials who have the courage to stand up to them.

Voters elect their leaders for a reason, and they want them left alone to make important decisions, at least until the next scheduled election.