PATTERSON: Unions on the warpath ..First fighting language, then fighting action..

Clearly, Mr. Hoffa believes that anyone who opposes unions’ right to suck cities, states and companies dry until little is left save a bankrupt husk is an enemy of the working people. Mr. Hoffa’s message is clear: Unions will fight, metaphorically at first, then physically, if they must.

 Right now, the labor movement in the United States is such an animal, reeling from a string of devastating injuries that have eroded its ability to raise money, organize and influence elections. Consider, just this past year:

• In Wisconsin, the birthplace of American public-sector unionism, Gov. Scott Walker successfully pushed through reform legislation essentially stripping public unions of their collective-bargaining power. TheWisconsin state government will no longer collect dues for the unions and will require them to recertify every year.

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