For over 50 years Wisconsin has lead the nation in labor peace between public employees and government officials. In 1959 Wisconsin became the first state to recognize collective bargaining for it's public employees. Today the Governor of the State of Wisconsin has his boot on the throat of public workers and he says "stay put like your supposed to."
Wisconsin's public employees earn over 11% less than private sector equivalent job. Adjusted for education, the difference is greater. With fringe benefits added, private employment is still better. If you could make a case that because it's tax payer money, or out of a sense of public service, the workers should work for less, well they are already doing that. they want to preserve the right to collective bargaining not so much for great advantages financially, but because it grants them as way to address working conditions.
Now the State of Wisconsin is retaliating against the brave state senators who have made themselves scare rather than providing a quorum so the bill can be voted in. they are now being levied a $100 a day fine. This is cut from the same cloth as the collective bargain repeal itself. It's all being done in the spirit of it's my way or the highway. Workers have already agreed to all the pay and benefits cuts needed to balance the budget, but want to hold on to their rights for the better days that should be ahead. Perhaps the Governor believes that we are in a permanent state of depression and there never will be better days to share with the workers. Or perhaps he intends more drastic cuts in the future, even if there are better days ahead. In a prank call, when a blogger (The Buffalo Beast) posed as the Governors chief financial backer, Koch, the governor explored charging unions with felonies if they were helping the Democratic lawmakers hide out. The Governor told his prank caller that he would lay off thousands of state employees to make the State Senators come home. The fake Koch told the governor to bring a baseball bat if he talked to Democratic leaders and the Governor said he had one. He told the prank caller that the day Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic controllers was one of the defining moments of his political career.
I have been working to find out how my readers could donate to pay the fines of the Wisconsin State Democratic Senators and haven found out where to send money. But I did discover there is a recall effort aimed at the 8 Republican Senators that are the most hard core that you can donate to at https://wisdems.zissousecure.com/contribute
Wednesday Ohio's Governor, rammed through the state house a bill to strip almost all collective bargaining rights from public workers. His two word press conference afterwards: "Bust Unions". Governor Kasich has given his staff pay increases while cutting wages and benefits for public employees. Union workers there plan an initiative drive to put restoring collective bargaining on the ballot.
Wisconsin's public employees earn over 11% less than private sector equivalent job. Adjusted for education, the difference is greater. With fringe benefits added, private employment is still better. If you could make a case that because it's tax payer money, or out of a sense of public service, the workers should work for less, well they are already doing that. they want to preserve the right to collective bargaining not so much for great advantages financially, but because it grants them as way to address working conditions.
Now the State of Wisconsin is retaliating against the brave state senators who have made themselves scare rather than providing a quorum so the bill can be voted in. they are now being levied a $100 a day fine. This is cut from the same cloth as the collective bargain repeal itself. It's all being done in the spirit of it's my way or the highway. Workers have already agreed to all the pay and benefits cuts needed to balance the budget, but want to hold on to their rights for the better days that should be ahead. Perhaps the Governor believes that we are in a permanent state of depression and there never will be better days to share with the workers. Or perhaps he intends more drastic cuts in the future, even if there are better days ahead. In a prank call, when a blogger (The Buffalo Beast) posed as the Governors chief financial backer, Koch, the governor explored charging unions with felonies if they were helping the Democratic lawmakers hide out. The Governor told his prank caller that he would lay off thousands of state employees to make the State Senators come home. The fake Koch told the governor to bring a baseball bat if he talked to Democratic leaders and the Governor said he had one. He told the prank caller that the day Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic controllers was one of the defining moments of his political career.
I have been working to find out how my readers could donate to pay the fines of the Wisconsin State Democratic Senators and haven found out where to send money. But I did discover there is a recall effort aimed at the 8 Republican Senators that are the most hard core that you can donate to at https://wisdems.zissousecure.com/contribute
Wednesday Ohio's Governor, rammed through the state house a bill to strip almost all collective bargaining rights from public workers. His two word press conference afterwards: "Bust Unions". Governor Kasich has given his staff pay increases while cutting wages and benefits for public employees. Union workers there plan an initiative drive to put restoring collective bargaining on the ballot.
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