Boycotts, Large And Small, Follow Walker's Union-Busting Offensive

Elections have consequences, and so do the actions of winning candidates who didn't level with the electorate on their way to victory.

Under consequences, file this under boycotts:

There are lists on Facebook and the Internet of businesses which in one way or another directed money or support to the Walker campaign, and now boycotts of some of these interests are sprouting up.

You can find some of the boycott sites in this Journal Sentinel story.

A Facebook page - - Boycott Scott Walker Contributors - - that the newspaper story said on Tuesday had more than 9,000 followers had more than 14,000 Thursday night.

Several unions said they planned on boycotting M & I Bank. 

Organized withdrawals at one Madison branch reportedly shut it down.

And then there are those concerned and motivated citizens that simply use their spending to make a statement - - like people who stopped buying BP gasoline after the Gulf spill.

Pressure against companies has led to hundreds agreeing to withhold advertising from Glenn Beck's television show, so consumers do have power.

So I noticed this comment from a reader in Virginia that was posted beneath a New York Times story online about Walker and Wisconsin: 

BWilmer

Arlington, VA

March 9th, 2011

10:11 pm

I for one intend to avoid buying Wisconsin products: Cheese, butter, beer, and anything else that is from Wisconsin. If Wisconsin doesn't want unions, they don't want me.

My father was a steelworker and union member his entire life. I believe that his employer would have cut his wages to the legal minimum had there been no union.

Recommended by 1236 Readers

How many people around the country with strong union sentiments, or a simple belief in fair play, for that matter, will decide this summer that Door County, or the North Woods, or Milwaukee's lakefront museums or Miller Park aren't going to be their destinations?

Under that comment, notice that more than 1,200 people registered their support by clicking "recommend."

Arizona's economy got clipped years ago when the state legislature there refused to approve a state holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a national boycott led to the cancellation of conventions.  Eventually, the holiday was recognized and the boycott was lifted.

I can see the same sentiment mounting nationally to punish Wisconsin for the actions of its political leaders. If we get stamped as the nation's most radical, anti-union state, look for people to spend their discretionary income elsewhere.

It would be a shame if charter fishing captains and hotel workers and Wisconsin Dells concessionaires paid the financial price for Scott Walker and Scott Fitzgerald's authoritarian power plays, but if they are serious about jobs in the state they can do something now to minimize the damage they unleashed.