Wyoming Gov: ‘Our Unions Are Willing to Listen’

Wyoming Republican Gov. Matt Mead says that in his right-to-work state, unions were “willing to listen” when the state was financially ailing, and that is part of the reason he is not facing the same problems plaguing Wisconsin.

“The equation always is not how much you get in, but how much you spend,” Mead Thursday told Fox News. “And we are a conservative state, fiscally conservative, and rightfully so. And it has served us well, because we have a budget surplus.”

In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker is facing down an employee and Democratic insurrection, as he tries to get the Senate to consider a bill to reduce union influence, because the state is financially strapped. Not so in Wyoming, Mead said, because of his state’s right-to-work status, abundant resources, and an agreeable public-employee union.

“We have unions in Wyoming … but I will tell you, in talking to the unions, they are willing to say: Listen, we will go with the state during the good times and we will hang with the state during the bad times,” Mead said.

“And even our public-employees union, they recognize that they have to flow with the economic times,” he said. “And, two years ago, roughly, the state had to make 10 percent cuts, which we did. And the unions, public employees, they hung with us, and so they are very responsible in trying to work with Wyoming, and Wyoming’s government.”