Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
There’s been a lot going on in Wisconsin in the past week. I hope most Americans are aware of the reason why so many Wisconsinites have converged on the state capital to hold demonstrations.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, claims that the state is in financial trouble. He’s asking teachers, plow drivers, janitors, nurses, garbage collectors, and other public sector workers to contribute more to their pensions and to pay a larger amount of their health premiums. It appears many of those workers are willing to negotiate with the governor and to consider having more money taken out of their paychecks for their pensions and health insurance. What those employees are not willing to do is relinquish their right to collective bargaining.
I can understand why Governor Walker is asking public employees to have more deductions taken from their paychecks during these fiscally difficult times. What I question is his budget-repair bill that would strip public employees of their right to collective bargaining. If the governor believes that taking away that right will help with the state budget shortfall, why isn’t he demanding that police, firefighters, and state troopers give up their right to collective bargaining too? Could it be political payback? Does that sound like a possibility to you?
Here is an excerpt from an article that Todd Richmond wrote for Bloomberg:
Walker has introduced a bill that would strip public employees across the board — from teachers to snowplow drivers — of their right to collectively bargain for sick leave, vacation, even the hours they work. But absolutely nothing would change for local police, fire departments and the State Patrol.
The bill smacks of political favoritism for public safety unions that supported Walker’s election bid last year and sets up new haves and have-nots in Wisconsin government, said Paul Secunda, a Marquette University professor who specializes in labor law.
“That’s called ‘thank you, I got your back,'” Secunda said. “There’s no surprise there. This is the worst type of favoritism there could be.”
Well, Wisconsin firefighters are showing their solidarity with their fellow public employees. There’s a post at Mother Jones about an interview that Uptake’s Oliver Dykstra had with Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin. (Mother Jones also posted a video of the interview.)
Here are some of the highlights of that interview—which I’ve taken from Mother Jones:
- “The reason that we are here is because it’s important that labor sticks together. There was a message from the governor’s office to conquer and divide…collective bargaining is not just for us, police and fire, it’s good for all involved. It’s a middle-class upbringing.”
- “When firefighters see an emergency, one thing we do is respond. And we see an emergency in the house of labor, so that’s why we’re here.”
- “Every day, if you notice, we lead the AFSCME employees, the SEIU employees, all the public sector employees into the building, because we are here to fight with them.”
- “Collective bargaining is not about union rights; it’s about rights of workers…We ask Gov. Walker to come back and negotiate with the people, negotiatie with the state workers’ unions, and get things worked out, as opposed to just putting out this bill and we don’t hear from him again.”
- “Us as firefighters, we have been exempted from this bill…There’s a 5.8 percent pay into the pension, there’s a 12.4 percent pay into the health care premium benefits…For the betterment of the government, for the betterment of the state, we don’t mind helping to pay for that. We don’t want to price ourselves out of a job. Ever. What we want to do is have a fair and equitable treatment among our members.”
I have great respect for the Wisconsin firefighters who are supporting their fellow public employees—even though they have nothing to gain politically or financially by doing so.
“We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” ~Benjamin Franklin
Sources
BIL:
I thought the 19th Amendment was a lounge. Or maybe I’m thinking of the 19th Hole.
eniobob,
If Christie were so interested in limiting spending in New Jersey, he wouldn’t be pissing it away in this lawsuit. A lawsuit of his making. He screwed up – badly. What could have been a great thing for the State of New Jersey in terms of infrastructure and jobs, has turned into Christie’s multi-million dollar mistake that will do nothing but add to the state’s deficit misery.
He is nothing more than the bully in the school yard who pretends to be the weakest kid’s friend, just so he can humiliate the weakling in front of the other kids. Yeah, Christie’s a tough guy …
Remember the Sarah Palin prank call?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcEiR01QK7o&w=480&h=390%5D
And somewhere, a GOPbagger is crying over the 19th Amendment.
Lottakatz,
“Thank you for the article. This is a war fought on many fronts and these facts shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. There needs to be a lot more of an outcry from the civil rights and women’s rights communities about this. It’s probably not a coincidence that a massive assault on women’s health/reproductive rights is taking place right now, it all part of the same war, just a different front.”
You are very welcome. And, you are correct – the war is on, but I think the GOP highly overestimated their November “mandate”, and woefully underestimated women.
This is a battle I am ready for.
eniobob,
you are correctg that Mr. Christie is attempting to out-stupid Gov. Walker. $485.00an hour for the attorneys to defend the “state” from federal claims for money wasted because of Christie’s politics. Maybe the state of New Jersey should take the funds out of Christie’s salary to pay for the attorneys.
Blouise,
In re your comment of 1, February 24, 2011 at 4:25 pm.
Ol’ Superfluous E forgets that bulls chew cud too. And you know what clowns get when they mess with the Bull. They get the horns.
Or to paraphrase the Man Formerly Known as a Squiggly Symbol, I read his words and thought “This is what it sounds like when trolls cry.”
Ms B.:
If you listen to the pundits Walker and Christie are the examples of leadership,again going back to the analysis of folks like Buchannan and Coulter.
“Which Governor will make the biggest ass of him/herself in March?”
There seems to be a heavy competion for that title.:=)
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Although February is not over yet, in my opinion, out of the three biggest idiot Governors, Walker is the biggest Idiot Governor of the Month for falling for the fake phone call and thus leaking so much of the Koch/Coke siblings’ plans and, perhaps, leaving himself open to criminal charges.
eniobob,
Welcome to the “February 2011 My Governor is an Idiot” club. Which Governor will make the biggest ass of him/herself in March?
Lawerence
1, February 24, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Buddha is Laughing:
That has got to be the biggest bunch of BS I have ever read. Talk about limited understanding. ROLFMAO.
And people told me you were a fire breathing meat eater, more like a cud chewing gas bag.
==============================
Yea! The “prison/mercenary/mormons” are back? How’s the food, keeping the sand out of your pants, how’s wife #4?
Poor Koch/Coke siblings are not getting any answers when they call all those politicians ’cause everybody’s afraid it’s some shock-jock on the phone? What good is having all that money if none of the boys will talk to you? Politicians are such wimps … you gotta find a better class of friends … buy yourselves some new ones. Don’t you just hate all the stuff coming out … all your super-secret plans gone all wiki on you?
Anyway … good to see you all are back at work …
LK,
I’ll do my best. Fortunately for me, I’m rarely far from a computer and am both a rapid reader and fast typist. And in the typing department, often a bit too fast for my own good. 😉
raff:
“Walker already blew off Fed. Funds for high speed rail that cost his state jobs now and in the future.”
You could place the name Christie instead of Walker and you wouldn’t have missed a beat,The new **bobbsey twins.**
Christie would be the new Tunnel project:
“Here come the lawyers.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has hired a law firm to challenge a $271 million tab the federal government says the state owes for the canceled ARC rail tunnel. Christie says he’s approved the selection of the high-powered Washington, D.C. firm of Patton Boggs.
New Jersey Transit, which oversaw the trans-Hudson tunnel project that Christie killed in October, could ratify a contract with the firm at its meeting a week from Thursday.
Christie’s office said yesterday the state would challenge the federal bill for money already spent on the project, known as Access to the Region’s Core, or ARC”
“Drewniak said the firm would be charging $485 an hour. He wasn’t sure where the money to pay that rate would come from — only that it would be found.”
BIL, nice work. You just have to stop letting your other responsibilities interfere with your blogging. 🙂
Stamford Liberal
The dirty secret of public-sector union busting
By Alyssa Battistoni
AP
The demise of public sector unions would be most detrimental to women and African-Americans, who make up a disproportionate share of the public sector workforce.
Much has been made of Walker’s decision to exempt from his plan firefighter, police and state trooper unions — conveniently, the only three public sector unions that endorsed him. But as Dana Goldstein points out, not only are the exempted unions largely Republican-leaning, they’re also overwhelmingly male — over 70 percent of law enforcement personnel are male, as are over 96 percent of firefighters. On the other hand, many of the non-exempt unions represent professions that are disproportionately female — approximately 80 percent of teachers are women, for example, as are 95 percent of nurses.
—–
Thank you for the article. This is a war fought on many fronts and these facts shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. There needs to be a lot more of an outcry from the civil rights and women’s rights communities about this. It’s probably not a coincidence that a massive assault on women’s health/reproductive rights is taking place right now, it all part of the same war, just a different front.
Buddha,
I rarely watch those Sunday morning “public affairs” shows anymore. I was appalled by some of the guests who were on last week to discuss what’s going on in Wisconsin. Rick Santelli? Give me a break!!! George Will? Oh…puh-leeze!
Where were the voices from Wisconsin and the working people who were demonstrating? Nowhere to be heard on the Sunday morning “faux” news shows.
Elaine,
Walker already blew off Fed. Funds for high speed rail that cost his state jobs now and in the future. He doesn’t care about losing millions as long as he gets what he wants and what his corporate sugar daddy wants.
Buddha,
You are absolutely correct. It doesn’t surprise me that the talking heads shows are staying away from the biggest news story. It is all about the corporations trying to stick it to the middle class. It also shows that the people in Wisconsin and Ohio and elsewhere are scaring them!
Looks like the corporatist union busters are closing ranks . . .
Unions: Sunday Shows Are Shutting Us Out
“Though thousands of Americans have turned out this week to show solidarity with Wisconsin’s public employees and oppose a threat to their collective bargaining rights, union officials say they have not been able to place a labor voice on this Sunday’s editions of the weekly public-affairs TV shows. The shows’ producers, they complain, are shutting out the workers’ perspective.
A union official told The Huffington Post that when none of the Sunday shows’ producers reached out to them to book a labor representative this week, several unions started to pitch the shows with affected workers and local and national leaders who they felt could discuss the protests. The official said the response from the shows was essentially ‘thanks, but no thanks.'”
Corporate media! It does a body politic bad. This message brought to you by the Department of Not Surprised.
Did I hear somebody say dancing?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdv5drvNOQ4&w=480&h=390%5D