Wisconsin governor: balance budget by breaking unions

[Broken]

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Wisconsin May Take an Ax to State Workers’ Benefits and Their Unions
By MONICA DAVEY and STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: February 11, 2011

Citing Wisconsin’s gaping budget shortfall for this year and even larger ones expected in the years ahead, Gov. Scott Walker proposed a sweeping plan on Friday to cut benefits for public employees in the state and to take away most of their unions’ ability to bargain.

The proposal by Mr. Walker, a Republican who was elected in November after pledging that he would get public workers’ compensation “into line” with everyone else’s, is expected to receive support next week in the State Legislature, where Republicans also won control of both chambers in the fall.

The prospect left union leaders, state and local employees and some Democrats stunned over the plan’s scope and what it might signal for public-sector unions in the state. Union leaders began planning rallies in Madison and contacting lawmakers, pressing them to reject the idea.

Mr. Walker said Wisconsin was prepared for any fallout, noting in an interview that the National Guard was ready to step in to handle state duties, if need be.

“I’m just trying to balance my budget,” Mr. Walker said. “To those who say why didn’t I negotiate on this? I don’t have anything to negotiate with. We don’t have anything to give. Like practically every other state in the country, we’re broke. And it’s time to pay up.”

State leaders across the country have talked about solving budget woes with actions that in other climates might have been politically impossible: cutting the salaries and pensions of government workers and limiting the power of labor unions.

But the plan in Wisconsin, which faces a $137 million shortfall in the current budget and a gap in the billions for the coming cycle, is among the most far-reaching of such proposals to be delivered to lawmakers. Mr. Walker expects swift approval.

Among key provisions of Mr. Walker’s plan: limiting collective bargaining for most state and local government employees to the issue of wages (instead of an array of issues, like health coverage or vacations); requiring government workers to contribute 5.8 percent of their pay to their pensions, much more than now; and requiring state employees to pay at least 12.6 percent of health care premiums (most pay about 6 percent now).

Mike Imbrogno, a cook at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who belongs to a union and said he earns $28,000 a year, described the move as an “attack” on working people.

“He’s basically trying to smash the last remaining organized upward pressure on wages and benefits in Wisconsin,” Mr. Imbrogno said. Governor Walker’s proposal would specifically remove the right of the university’s faculty and staff to bargain collectively.

Mr. Walker made several proposals that will weaken not just unions’ ability to bargain contracts, but also their finances and political clout.

His proposal would make it harder for unions to collect dues because the state would stop collecting the money from employee paychecks.

He would further weaken union treasuries by giving members of public-sector unions the right not to pay dues. In an unusual move, he would require secret-ballot votes each year at every public-sector union to determine whether a majority of workers still want to be unionized.

He would require public-employee unions to negotiate new contracts every year, an often lengthy process. And he would limit the raises of state employees and teachers to the consumer price index, unless the public approves higher raises through a referendum. Exempted from those changes would be firefighters and law enforcement personnel.

“We think that the proposal that’s put forward, it just goes too far,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin A.F.L.-C.I.O. “The right to negotiate wages and benefits for a union is a fundamental underpinning of the American middle class.”

But Mr. Walker and Republican leaders said disassembling unions was not the point at all. The intent, Mr. Walker said, was to avoid balancing the budget some other way: by laying off some 6,000 state workers, and taking away Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands of children.

Wisconsin officials say Mr. Walker’s plan would save the state $30 million in the current budget, and $300 million in the next budget. “In these tough times, I think people are going to feel that this is not that much to ask,” said Jeff Fitzgerald, the Republican speaker of the State Assembly. “Everyone is going to have to pitch in.”

A version of this article appeared in print on February 12, 2011, on page A11 of the New York edition.

Certainly can't let a good crisis go to waste, so the Republican leadership is taking this opportunity to gut Wisconsin's public sector unions. Yearly contract negotiations means they will pretty much be constantly working on next year's contract which can only cover wages and no other benefits and if it is like all other union contract talks I have ever heard of, will be a long, drawn out painful process. Which fits right in with Newt Gringrich's plan/fantasy to let states go bankrupt and ditch all those pesky pensions that were negotiated for in good faith. So with unions constantly involved in ugly contract fights for only wages and no other benefits; then you make it harder for unions to collect dues and give workers a secret ballet with the implication that if they ditched the unions they would save that money they pay to union dues. Fast forward a decade and if there are any public sector unions left they are a ghost of their current state.

[KlavoHunter]

Not letting a good crisis go to waste?

This shitstain MANUFACTURED this budgetary crisis himself!

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion ... aaaf6.html

To the extent that there is an imbalance -- Walker claims there is a $137 million deficit -- it is not because of a drop in revenues or increases in the cost of state employee contracts, benefits or pensions. It is because Walker and his allies pushed through $140 million in new spending for special-interest groups in January. If the Legislature were simply to rescind Walker’s new spending schemes -- or delay their implementation until they are offset by fresh revenues -- the “crisis” would not exist.

...

One Wisconsin Now, the progressive watchdog group that has provided the closest monitoring of Walker’s budgetary gamesmanship, explains:

“Since his inauguration in early January, Walker has approved $140 million in new special-interest spending that includes:

“• $25 million for an economic development fund for job creation that still has $73 million due to a lack of job creation. Walker is creating a $25 million hole which will not create or retain jobs.

“• $48 million for private health savings accounts, which primarily benefit the wealthy. A study from the federal Governmental Accountability Office showed the average adjusted gross income of HSA participants was $139,000 and nearly half of HSA participants reported withdrawing nothing from their HSA, evidence that it is serving as a tax shelter for wealthy participants.

“• $67 million for a tax shift plan, so ill-conceived that at best the benefit provided to ‘job creators’ would be less than a dollar a day per new job, and may be as little as 30 cents a day.”

Over 10,000 people, myself included, were at the capitol to protest this bullshit today, and that's only counting the people who got there by noon, who knows how many people were in the 5PM second wave as people got off of work.


And we will be back tomorrow. And the day after that, and the day after that, and so on, until Scott Walker gets the message that winning an easy non-presidential-year election is NOT a mandate to turn our state into Wississippi, a shithole that people only yearn to escape from, instead of coming to for the sort of education that I keep seeing "UW-Madison" in cutting-edge science articles for.

[Gandalf]

So are unions the new illegal immigrants, to be used as the scapegoat for all domestic economic woes?

[KlavoHunter]

So are unions the new illegal immigrants, to be used as the scapegoat for all domestic economic woes?

Of course. Anything to try and divide the common workers who have a common interest up so they can be conquered separately by the kleptocrats.

However, the only place I have seen anyone in support of Scott Walker's bullshit is on the internet, it seems none of them have the balls to actually stand up for their Dear Leader and actually show themselves in public. Probably because they can wash their hands after they type, but they would be unable to get the taste of that filth out of their mouths if they had to speak it.

[Broken]

I had seen some images of the capital grounds covered in protesters yesterday, good to see that some people are not taking this breath-taking assault on worker's rights laying down. From what I understand, the police and firefighters unions (who would not yet have their rights gutted under this plan) as well as some private sector union people were supporting the protesters as were the Green Bay Packers in a letter. Stay warm up there KlavoHunter and I hope we win this one.

[NomAnor15]

Scott Walker is a retarded cumdumpster who shouldn't have been elected as class president at a school for the mentally disabled, much less governor. I love Wisconsin, I really do, but goddamn sometimes the people in this state piss me off. How anyone with the mental capacity to walk upright could have voted for that asshole just boggles my mind. I was not in Madison for the protest, unfortunately, but there's one today at my school (UW-La Crosse) and I will definitely be there.

[SirNitram]

A local paper with some.. Concerning statements. Link

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made the dramatic announcement this morning that he is prepared to call in the Wisconsin National Guard to respond if there is any unrest among state employees in the wake of his announcement that he wants to revoke nearly all of their collective bargaining rights.
Walker said he has not called the National Guard into action, but he has briefed them and other state agencies in preparation of any labor problems.
Walker’s plan to resolve the state’s budget deficit would require higher pension and health insurance contributions by state employees and remove bargaining rights except in a limited way over wages.
Critics said Walker’s “attacks” on the union workers violated a long-held state tradition of honest collective bargaining, and his threat to call the National Guard was an unnecessary insult to the state employees.
“Although this stunningly radical move is being cloaked as a budget necessity, it is a cruel hoax because Governor Walker and the Legislature have full authority to balance the state budget without attacking the fundamental rights of workers,” said Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “In reality this is a naked power grab by the large corporate interests that back Scott Walker and who seek unfettered control over Wisconsin politics.”
Walker said the budget repair bill he introduced today and the budget he will unveil Feb. 22 will not include furloughs for state employees and will "essentially not include layoffs."
"The last thing we need is any more people on unemployment," Walker said during a news conference to release details of the repair bill.
Walker said his proposals to reform the wage and benefit process are aimed at bringing stability to state and local government and will stave off thousands of layoffs at the state and local levels.

The National Guard isn't mobilized yet, but I can't help but think of how badly this could go.

[Phantasee]

He's going to call in the National Guard to bust up the protests/strikes? This is some fucked up shit.

[spartasman]

Saw this first on Drudge Report this morning, and most of the articles on there, like they usually are, contrive to blame unions for massive 'Cairo-style protests' in across the sate. Apparently, the right to openly protest bullshit like this is the sort of third-world activity that no true red-blooded American would lower themselves to, at least without the Unions telling them to do it.

I can't believe that he's going to get away with screwing over teachers like this. How the hell did this asshole get elected in the first place?

Edit: Apparently, all the Democrat senators left the state, and they can't hold a vote without them. This tickles me in ways I can't describe.

link

[Zaune]

Either Governor Walker knows something we don't or he's going round the twist. The National Guard are reservists, right? Meaning that presumably they have full-time civilian jobs, in both public and private sector, and thus might conceivably be among the people who are going to get screwed over by these cuts?

[Zixinus]

Did this man essentially just threatened to forcefully disrupt the protest trough lethal means? Because I thought that the National Guard was the lethal type.

[General Zod]

Either Governor Walker knows something we don't or he's going round the twist. The National Guard are reservists, right? Meaning that presumably they have full-time civilian jobs, in both public and private sector, and thus might conceivably be among the people who are going to get screwed over by these cuts?

Unfortunately National Guardsmen don't really have much choice without facing serious consequences for refusing to do their job.

[spartasman]

National Guard troops don't go around bashing heads, usually. They're used mostly for disaster relief and quelling major unrest, but they are definitely not allowed to shoot at people. At most, they would simply stand in front of doors and keep protesters away from government buildings.

[Zaune]

National Guard troops don't go around bashing heads, usually. They're used mostly for disaster relief and quelling major unrest, but they are definitely not allowed to shoot at people. At most, they would simply stand in front of doors and keep protesters away from government buildings.

Still not going to look very good on CNN, is it? Hell, even FOX would have trouble spinning the sight of soldiers -and they are soldiers, even if they're not frontline troops as such- being used for crowd control.

[spartasman]

Still not going to look very good on CNN, is it? Hell, even FOX would have trouble spinning the sight of soldiers -and they are soldiers, even if they're not frontline troops as such- being used for crowd control.

Sure they could!

"Tonight on Glenn Beck: Attempted liberal disruption of democratic process stopped, order restored to mass union protests by National Guard."

[Thanas]

Either Governor Walker knows something we don't or he's going round the twist. The National Guard are reservists, right? Meaning that presumably they have full-time civilian jobs, in both public and private sector, and thus might conceivably be among the people who are going to get screwed over by these cuts?

National Guard units in the past have had no problem acting against un-american things like simple students protesting the Vietnam war (peacefully) or busting up unions.

[SirNitram]

Not letting a good crisis go to waste?

This shitstain MANUFACTURED this budgetary crisis himself!

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion ... aaaf6.html

Of course. This isn't new; when Republicans are in power they spend like drunken sailors, from Reagan onward. And when a Democrat gains power.. Fearmonger the deficit and get on all the talk shows about how 'we all must make sacrifices'. And by 'we', he means, 'the little people.'

[SirNitram]

Saw this first on Drudge Report this morning, and most of the articles on there, like they usually are, contrive to blame unions for massive 'Cairo-style protests' in across the sate. Apparently, the right to openly protest bullshit like this is the sort of third-world activity that no true red-blooded American would lower themselves to, at least without the Unions telling them to do it.

I can't believe that he's going to get away with screwing over teachers like this. How the hell did this asshole get elected in the first place?

Edit: Apparently, all the Democrat senators left the state, and they can't hold a vote without them. This tickles me in ways I can't describe.

link

So it's like Cairo, where thousands protests peacefully against a brutal dictator? When do we get the plainclothes thugs from those in power, then?

[Knife]

Agreed. It is an interesting comparison where in Egypt they peacefully protested and had the cops and army sicked on them, here in America where we're free, a Governor threatened to sic his mini army on peaceful protests. Simply amazing, simply fucking amazing. Why they aren't beating this shit over his head now and until he is out of office, I don't know. Gov. Walker and Mubarak did the same thing, want to know more?

[The Yosemite Bear]

He's going to call in the National Guard to bust up the protests/strikes? This is some fucked up shit.

for those of us in the Union Business it would be a flashback, the flashback would also apply to anyone with any Rachial Memory working in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania. etc.

[spartasman]

So it's like Cairo, where thousands protests peacefully against a brutal dictator? When do we get the plainclothes thugs from those in power, then?

Well

[SirNitram]

So it's like Cairo, where thousands protests peacefully against a brutal dictator? When do we get the plainclothes thugs from those in power, then?

Well

I'm going to hold back from declaring this the same as Mubarak's thugs pretending to be supporters and starting fights. They might just be die-hards for the Gov, or another Brooks Brother's Riot.

[Alphawolf55]

Can someone explain why secret ballots are a bad thing or why allowing workers not to contribute union dues is either (except I'd argue that if they don't give dues they shouldn't get to partake in all the benefits)

[Rogue 9]

$48 million for private health savings accounts, which primarily benefit the wealthy. A study from the federal Governmental Accountability Office showed the average adjusted gross income of HSA participants was $139,000 and nearly half of HSA participants reported withdrawing nothing from their HSA, evidence that it is serving as a tax shelter for wealthy participants.

This smells of bullshit. You only get to have an HSA if you're enrolled in a high-deductible health plan, and there are hard contribution limits that aren't all that high; it can't be too effective as a tax shelter for the wealthy since if one is actually wealthy, the contribution limits are a tiny percentage of income. Though what would the state be spending $48 million on that relates to HSAs, anyway? Presumably it wasn't in contributions to state employees' savings accounts, so...

[Lonestar]

Of course. This isn't new; when Republicans are in power they spend like drunken sailors

Martin I am insulted.


When I am drunk and spending money, I typically stop spending when I run out.