Behind Scott Walker, a Longstanding Conservative Alliance Against Unions
“Scott Walker didn’t have the stature, influence or money to become governor on his own or to end collective bargaining on his own,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin A.F.L.-C.I.O. “All of that flowed from Mike Grebe, the Bradley Foundation and a network of influential conservatives, including the Kochs.”
.. Unions were the bane of Wisconsin conservatives long before Mr. Walker first entered office in 1993 as a state assemblyman. After Wisconsin took the landmark step in 1959 of allowing collective bargaining for public employees, state spending grew steadily to help cover negotiated salaries and generous benefits, and so did the criticism from retailers, manufacturers and bankers.
.. No governor in the United States had ever won a recall election, but by that point, Mr. Walker had a national network of conservative donors and groups behind him. Almost 300,000 people donated to his recall campaign, which raised about $37 million, two-thirds of it from outside Wisconsin.