If I lived in Ohio, I'd probably be jealous about the relatively greater attention Wisconsin has received. I'd be happy to see the momentum, but I'd wonder why my state was not getting as much attention. But I'm in Mississippi, where public employees already have no meaningful union rights. And we didn't just lose them either; I'm not sure we've ever had them.

As I understand it, there is a state law prohibiting public employees (e.g., teachers) from striking. This is a fairly major obstacle to any sort of collective bargaining. What I want to know is why there seems to be absolutely no interest in changing this law? Is it because the people of Mississippi don't know what we're missing?

Is there any real hope of making such changes in Mississippi and states with similar laws? I don't think this is even on the radar of our state Democratic Party. I suppose that may be further evidence that the Democrats around here are more conservative than the Republicans in many states.

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