Is Gov. Scott Walker going to fire Manny Perez, his pick to head the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development?
That's a logical if not inevitable conclusion to draw from remarks made by the governor at a press conference last week. In seeking to refute charges that he is out to bust unions, Walker said, "I don't have any interest in doing anything to the private unions. I think the private unions are too important to getting the state's economy going. I welcome working with them."
This sentiment would appear to put Walker on a collision course with Perez, a labor market economist who for the last several years was president and co-owner of JNA Staffing Inc., a Milwaukee-based temp help firm. An advertisement from 2009 touts Perez as a featured speaker at a seminar on "What Can Be Done to Keep Your Business Union Free."
Isthmus sent Perez an email asking him to put this past role "into the context you feel is most appropriate."
Perez did not reply. Perhaps he's out looking for work?
