Governor Scott Walker says he does not need to negotiate with unions because the State of Wisconsin has "nothing to offer." He proposes ELIMINATING bargaining rights.
The last Wisconsin state employees union worker's contract expired June 30, 2009. You read that correctly, our last contract expired almost two years ago and the one that was to expire in June of 2011 was voted down the last day of a special session, December 16, 2010.
Governor Scott Walker says he does not need to negotiate with unions because the State of Wisconsin has "nothing to offer." He proposes ELIMINATING bargaining rights.
The Republican assault against labor continues as Wisconsin becomes the latest state where Republicans try to balance their budgets on the backs of state workers.
The last Wisconsin state employees union worker's contract expired June 30, 2009. You read that correctly, our last contract expired almost two years ago and the one that was to expire in June of 2011 was voted down the last day of a special session, December 16, 2010.
A brief little history. Wisconsin had worked to pass contracts in the last session before the last governor left office, Jim Doyle (D). On the last day of a special session the Democratic Majority Leader voted against the contracts, Contracts fail . Again you read that right:
Democratic leaders in the Assembly and the Senate called the session on Wednesday to approve 17 contracts with state employee unions.
The Assembly passed the agreements, but things fell apart in the Senate after Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, decided he couldn't support any of the deals.
So shocked were members of his own party
"I have never seen a majority leader do what he did, and why did he do it?" asked Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah. "There's something going on here that you and I and the public are not aware of."
So the Democratic leader loses his reelection bid and out of spite votes down a bill he approved in committee.
After that fiasco the new governor comes in and refuses to negotiate with state workers, No Negotiations. He wants to take away bargaining rights.
Gov. Scott Walker unveiled his budget plan on Friday that forces state workers to pay more for their pensions and health insurance coverage and takes away most collective bargaining rights.
Walker's proposal, if enacted, would mark a historic change to state union rights. He proposes taking away bargaining rights and getting cost-savings to prevent layoffs among state employees.
He proposes drastic changes and wants it passed next week. He wants to take away rights of the average workers, however in typical pay for play action, he won't take away those rights for those who supported him before the election,
However, rights would remain for police, firefighters, state troopers and state inspectors. Some of those unions endorsed Walker in his campaign for governor.
I can't help but thinking of all of the small communities around Wisconsin where their biggest employers are the smaller universities, and all of their employees are going to take a huge pay cut. The ripple effects of people effectively getting a 10% to 15% pay cut in small towns will hurt all of the local businesses. This is not a way to grow the economy, or keep people spending money. People will be closing their wallets all over Wisconsin.
On a closing note I just received an email from our fearless leader and here are a couple of gems
-- Collective Bargaining - Given the above changes, the bill also makes various
changes to limit collective bargaining to the base pay rate. Total increases
cannot exceed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) unless approved by a referendum.
Contracts will be limited to one year and wages will be frozen until the new
contract is settled. Collective bargaining units will have to take annual votes
to maintain certification as a union. Employers will be prohibited from
collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units will not be
required to pay dues. These changes take effect upon the expiration of existing
contracts. Local police and fire employees and State Patrol Troopers and
Inspectors are exempted from these changes.
So he continues his pledge to destroy unions.