Other GOP Govs Balk at Walker's Union Stance

Other Republican governors are voicing plenty of support for Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker in his fight to limit collective bargaining rights for public unions. But few are willing to go as far as he has, Politico reports. The others are taking a more conciliatory approach.

Even New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has taken on the teachers union over its excessive benefits, supports collective bargaining rights in his largely Democratic and union-dominated state. “If it’s fair, I have no problem with it,” he told the New York Times.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott also expresses conditional support for collective bargaining. “My belief is, as long as people know what they’re doing, collective bargaining is fine,” he told a local radio station. Florida already is a right to work state, so it’s not as big an issue for him.

“The governors are going to have to make some decisions about where they’re going to draw their lines in the sand,” former New Jersey Republican Gov. Christine Whitman tells Politico. “If you overreach, you’re going to lose the momentum.”