President Obama has accused Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, of unleashing "an assault" on unions by pressing legislation that would end collective bargaining rights for public employees and sharply increase their health care and pension payments.
"Some of what I've heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you're just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally seems like more of an assault on unions," Obama told WTMJ-TV in a White House interview Wednesday. "And I think it's very important for us to understand that public employees, they're our neighbors, they're our friends."
"I think everybody's got to make some adjustments, but I think it's also important to recognize that public employees make enormous contributions to our states and our citizens," he continued.
But Walker said the demands on public employees are "modest" compared with those in the private sector, and are meant to prevent a shutdown, which could result in 6,000 state workers not getting paid.
"We're at a point of crisis," the governor said, adding that he would call out the National Guard if needed to keep state operations, including prisons, running......
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