Urged on by itskevin , who said this would make a good diary, I'm expanding several earlier comments into one diary.
Early on, firefighters withdrew their support of the governor. But that was somewhat expected.
Starting over the weekend, cracks began on the management side of the issue. Management and civic support began to crumble for the irrational "my-way-or-the-highway" dictatorial rants of governor Walker in the past few days.
Here is a list of public management statements in favor of workers I've found so far. They each say it better than I can.
President of the Milwaukee Public Schools Board of Education.
The entire Shorewood Schools (suburban Milwaukee) Board of Education
Madison Chamber of Congress
Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators
League of Wisconsin Municipalities
Wisconsin Counties Association
Wisconsin's Democratic Senators were (and still are) absolutely correct about Wisconsin citizens needing time to see what all is buried in this 146-page stealth bill.
As more and more Wisconsin residents learn what is actually IN this 146-page bill, they are furious. People who have been on the other side of this issue are quickly distancing themselves from the governor.
Details below the fold.
Early Saturday morning this tidbit appeared buried in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinal online article about Madison : (emphasis mine)
(Milwaukee) School Board President Michael Bonds said it was up to the administration how to discipline teachers.
But he was clearly sympathetic with their cause. He said he joined the protests in Madison on Friday to support public education and the idea of collective bargaining, which he said had brought MPS $110 million in health care concessions from unions over two years.
Later on Saturday the following appeared, also in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal:
Shorewood School Board opposes governor's budget bill (emphasis mine)
The Shorewood School Board has written a letter opposing Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, now pending in the Legislature.
"Although it is highly unusual for the Board to respond to a proposed legislative act, we feel compelled to do so in light of the extraordinary changes to the long-standing collective bargaining rights of state, municipal, and local-government unit employees and the usurpation of local governmental control over matters concerning employee compensation and benefits proposed by the Bill, together with the circumstances under which the Bill is being rushed for consideration and passage by the Senate," reads part of the letter to state Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and state Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills).
About 2 pm today I found this one at biztimes.com. (again emphasis mine)
Madison chamber denounces Walker’s ‘adversarial’ approach
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce (GMCC) is supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to cut the wages and benefits of public employees, but the business organization stands against his "adversarial" revoking of the worker's rights to collectiively bargain...
The GMCC supports the work to address the state budget deficit and the efforts toward improving the state's economy. That support ends at the adversarial way elected officials are approaching it. Public policy issues of this magnitude should not be rushed through the legislative process. Given this state's long history of collective bargaining, policy changes of this magnitude should be thoroughly debated for an adequate period of time, in good faith by both sides, with all potential consequences considered. Currently, that is not happening.
Then about 5 pm I wrote the comment which inspired this diary when I saw the article below:
Wisconsin's local governments never asked to end collective bargaining, as Scott Walker contends (emphasis mine)
"Our position is we've sought significant modifications in bargaining laws, but we've never sought to eliminate collective bargaining rights," says Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators.
Turner says doing so "would create a very problematic work environment because right now we have an established system and everyone knows how the systems works and there's a comfort with everyone having a seat at the table. If you take that away, it leads to an uncertain work environment, that could lead to strikes."
"The governor gave us a great deal more flexibility than we asked for," says Dan Thompson, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, which represents 190 cities and 393 villages.
"The governor's proposal thinks police and fire should be treated differently," notes Thompson. "Virtually every municipal official thinks that's a mistake."
Similarly, the Wisconsin Counties Association has asked for more power, but not to the extent Walker has proposed, says executive director Mark D. O'Connell.
As I said in an email today to Senator Holperin and Assemblyman Meyers, it would do all members of the Assembly and Senate well to read the legal definition of an unconscionable contract ...
because in short, by legal definition, governor Walker is unconscionable.