Eleven years ago, 378 non-union workers from Beloit Corporation had their severance packages unceremoniously withheld when it closed.
Joy Global, the mining equipment segment of Beloit's parent company Harnischfeger, was able to remain financially sound, and the workers filed a legal suit against this part of the company. The Wisconsin Department of Justice has been working with these nearly 400 workers for the past 11 years, fighting for the severance packages that they were promised in their contracts. In 2000, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development determined that the company owed these workers a total of $4.2 million in severance pay.
In November, a Delaware court ruled against the workers, but the Department of Justice was determined to appeal the case to a higher court.
Then, suddenly, in December of this past year, Gov. Walker's Department of Workforce Development put an end to the case, claiming it was too expensive to pursue.
For what reason would the DWD terminate legal proceedings that the Dept. of Justice was so eager to pursue?
Consider this:
The attorney for Joy Global in the case, Steve Biskupic, is Walker's personal lawyer. The Walker campaign has given Biskupic's firm $110,000 over this last year to represent him in the John Doe proceedings. Additionally, Biskupic is from Michael Best & Friedrich, which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to represent Republicans in their partisan redistricting scheme. MBF is also the firm that gave scandal-plagued Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman free legal advice that is now the subject of a separate investigation.
Walker visited Joy Global just last week in a desperate attempt to save his failing mining legislation. The company has just recorded a 39 percent first quarter profit and is a big supporter of Walker's agenda.
So it seems that instead of looking out for worker's rights, the DWD is more interested in promoting and maintaining Gov. Walker's extreme agenda. This is just another example of how Gov. Walker doesn't care at all about regular Wisconsin citizens, and would rather cave to corporate special interests.
Gov. Walker handed out a $40 million a year tax break that benefits out-of-state corporations. The non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau says less than 400 companies will swallow up that money.
Imagine if Gov. Walker cared as much about the 400 workers in Beloit as he did these 400 out-of-state corporations.