UE's Townsend Debates Union Busters; WI Judge Overturns Walker's Anti-collective Bargaining Law

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The United Electrical Workers Union’s Chris Townsend last week took on “two of the leading anti-union forces in the U.S.” when he debated Shaddowbosses author Mallory Factor at the “reliably anti-union” Cato Institute.  Factor is “a newcomer to the union-smashing world,” Townsend (pictured at the debate at right), who works in the UE’s DC office. Factor has been “promoting his wildly anti-public sector union book, Shaddowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind, the current political definition of the Scott Walker-Nikki Haley assault on public sector unions,” adds Townsend. The Chicago teachers strike “featured prominently in the debate,” adds Townsend, “as Factor's book takes straight aim at the teachers, among others.” Click here to check out a video of the debate. In related news, Wisconsin workers applauded Friday’s ruling overturning Governor Scott Walker’s anti-collective bargaining law. “We’ve now had a federal and state judge say this law was unconstitutional and that it violated not only the state constitution but the U.S. Constitution as well," said Marty Bell, executive director of AFSCME Council 24. Mark your calendar now for the DC Labor FilmFest's free screening of "We Are Wisconsin" at noon on October 12 at the AFL-CIO. - screen shot from Cato Institute debate