Wisconsin and wider

摘要

The state of Wisconsin considers itself something of a leader when it comes to workers' rights. It was the first state to provide unemployment benefits, the first to introduce compensation for those injured on the job and, in 1959, the first to recognise unions representing state workers. Now it is setting a very different trend. The row the state's leaders sparked off by attempting to curb the influence of public-sector unions is spreading across the country. Several other state legislatures have taken up similar proposals. National politicians are gleefully weighing in. America is facing cutbacks at every level of government, and the melodrama unfolding in Madison, Wisconsin's small, snowbound capital, will help determine where the axe falls.