Labor Day 2011

This is a guest editorial about Labor Day 2011 by WSEU (AFSCME Council 24) President Paulette Feld:

Labor Day 2011 is coming in just over a week. What does it mean in Wisconsin this year? Will we get the same old tired news stories about the parades, picnics and political speeches, or has Wisconsin really awoke from their snoozing to celebrate Labor Day for what it was meant to be. Will it once again be used to mourn the passing of another summer as we start school and our busy fall schedules or will we celebrate labors proud past and hopeful future?

I’m hoping this year will be different after months of rallies and protests for workers rights in Madison AND all around the state. Some areas are celebrating recent victories in the recall elections, electing two new Senators who replaced individuals who forgot that they don’t just represent corporate interest in Madison but real people. We protected and supported 3 Senators who were brave enough to demonstrate that they did.

But, are we, as labor unions in Wisconsin going to follow the status quo and quietly celebrate Labor Day or are we going to use the day as a means to keep the awakening going? We can’t afford to be happy with the status quo…

This past week, I spent time hearing the stories of my members as we work on signing them up for dues deductions. It’s heart breaking listening to Custodians who make less than $12 an hour, talk about having to consider selling their homes, or knowing they will lose it. One of them tried to refinance, but, wasn’t accepted. It is not because these individuals were living beyond their means, they were living at the level they could afford, one year ago before the Governor of Wisconsin decided that state employees needed to contribute money they earn to balance the state budget. As a result of the reduced paychecks, most of us will be spending less in the community. Even today, the Sunday before the first day of school, the parking lots at some of the big box stores were oddly empty. Contrary to what the media and others would have you believe, state employees are not paying more for their health insurance and pensions. The money being taken out of their checks is going directly to their agencies. Yes, those of us at the University are helping keep tuition lower, but at what expense? Homes lost and local economies shattered? Other public employees are already feeling it, and just like state employees, the money that is being taken out using the “tools” will be used to balance local and school district budgets. What happens with the next budget, or when this isn’t enough? Will government double the amount taken from employees? How does this end if we’re not all willing to pay for the services given, whether we work in the public OR private sector?

This week Thursday is the first day of school. Teachers are expected to be there, just like every year, happy to see the students back and ready to teach and help them become our next generation of leaders, workers and citizens. Unfortunately, teachers are facing the same issue that State Employees are as far as cuts to their salaries. In some districts teachers have been given a new set of rules that show no respect for the commitment of these professionals. In some cases, the rules appear to punish the teachers. All of this because their union and other public employee unions had the audacity to believe that they should exercise their democratic rights and support the election of public officials that support the public good and not the corporate good.

But I digress from Labor Day celebrations. How do we celebrate this year? One Labor Council in the state, Marathon County, has already informed Republican legislators from the State and Federal level that they are not welcome in their parade (which was then reversed under public pressure). Indeed, why should politicians who obviously don’t believe in what Organized Labor stands for and respect what Labor has done to create and strengthen the middle class in our country be allowed to smile and wave in a parade that is sponsored by Organized Labor. Labor Councils and unions that continue to allow that to happen may as well turn in their charters now. Why should Republicans and the Tea Party supporters be allowed to celebrate OUR day? I hope that every labor group in the state that celebrates Labor Day in some way takes the same stand. I know at our celebration, if our US Congress person comes, when he buys his hot dog, I’ll ask him how he supports labor and the middle class. I’ll ask that Republican State Representative that labor supported in his last re-election why he supported a state budget that cuts the income of a large group of his constituents.

As Labor Activists, what else can we do? Speak out. If we talk to the media between now and Labor Day, remind them what the day means. Don’t talk about the car show, parade, bands, carnival, or old people dancing. Talk about what Labor Day really means—IT’s ABOUT UNIONS! When you talk to those attending your event, remind them of that….if they don’t want to talk about unions, then why are they there? Talk about the people who came before us in labor who fought and sometimes died to get pensions, a 40 hour work week, health insurance, workers comp, minimum wage, health and safety…the list goes on. Write letters to the editor to your local paper to make sure the community remembers that Labor Day is not just a celebration of the end of summer—it is about unions and workers. No matter who you talk to about Labor Day in the next week, be proud about being a Union member. Be proud of what we have accomplished and our future. Don’t forget to tell them that we’re not going away either, we’re going to continue the fight until we help Wisconsin once again become the state that supports workers and believes in the power of all of our workers, no matter their income level. The workers (not politicians or CEO’s) who work hard to make Wisconsin If the Governor ever understands this, then Wisconsin can once again be "open for business".

Get out there and vote!

The Chicks congratulate our 18th SD Senator-elect Jessica King on her victory in the recall election last week. Thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work and thank you very much to Jessica King for having the courage to run again for the opportunity to represent us. We look forward to visiting you in your Senate office.

We also urge all those who live in the areas where the final two recall elections which are being held today to get out there and vote. We asked for these elections, so now it's time to cast our vote as our last act in them. You have until 8PM to vote.

Don't know where your polling place is? Click on this link:
https://vpa.wi.gov/

Chicky, you ask, what difference does my vote make now that we did not win the 3 elections we needed to take the state senate back into the "blue" category? Well, if we don't retain these two seats, we're right back where we started, with only 14 Dem senators. Is that really where we want to be going? Changing the deck chairs around, while entertaining for a while, doesn't really get the job done, does it? We need to retain these folks because it reduces the margin down to one senator/vote. Not really what we wanted, but it's closer than what we were at the start of all this. We would then only need one of the folks from the other side to jump ship, vote-wise. Much easier than trying to get three, don't you think?

--LC1

Rally time

Here's a flyer for the rally in Madison on Tuesday and Wednesday:

http://gallery.mailchimp.com/0ee61ac1310c00c7662862f40/files/lobby_days_flier_2_11.pdf

Serving People Who Serve Wisconsin

More chicken poop from Governor Scotty's minions...

Link to the letter terminating the contracts of State Employees represented by the Wisconsin State Employees Union as of March 13, 2011.

http://wseu-sepac.org/political_walker_scott/legaction_peunions_letter_20110211_oser_terminationofcbaextensions.pdf

Is Wisconsin still a Democracy?

Apparently, Governor Scotty's administration decided to take away the ability of State Employees to attend the rallies planned for Madison on February 15 & 16. The grapevine among the chicken coops is that supervisors in many State agencies have been instructed to deny vacation requests put in after today for vacation on Tuesday and Wednesday. We're sure that if anyone in those agencies that enforce this will also scrutinize any sick leave usage those two days...under a bare bulb no doubt.

Should we place bets on how many security people will be around the Capitol building that day and whether the doors of the doors will be open. Considering that most of them were locked on January 3 (Gov. Scotty's inauguration), chances are good that there won't be any pecking in the rotunda that day! So much for the People's House.

Everyone is invited to ride the free buses to the rallies both days....the link to the schedules can be found here:

http://wseu-sepac.org/political_walker_scott/legaction_peunions_busschedule_20110211_01draft.pdf

Not what you want in your email.....

Governor Scott Walker

State of Wisconsin



Thank you for your service to your state and your fellow citizens. I know that you have worked hard during this economic downturn to ensure that our citizens continue to receive great service, despite our state having fewer and fewer resources. I, like all Wisconsinites, am grateful for your professionalism and commitment to public service.



Like almost every state across the nation, our state faces some very serious and undeniable financial challenges. Over the last three months, I have worked diligently to review the status of our state finances and to put forward a plan that balances our budget now and will create stability in future budgets.



Many of you are aware of the immediate challenges facing our state. In the current fiscal year which ends on June 30, 2011, we face a budget deficit of $136.7 million. We also owe more than $200 million to the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund. Failure to immediately address this shortfall could result in the state being unable to pay for health services to thousands of children and families in Wisconsin’s BadgerCare program.



Looking to the future, our challenges are even greater. Over the next two years, the State of Wisconsin faces a biennial budget deficit of $3.6 billion.



While some of these financial challenges may be attributed to the slowing of our economy, the reality is that these problems were exacerbated by poor budgeting decisions approved and promoted by past elected leaders, Republicans and Democrats alike. By relying on the use of one-time money, segregated fund raids, and increases in taxes and fees, past leaders have focused on short term solutions without looking toward the future.



While these decisions may have appeared to be the easiest solution, or the path of least resistance, the bills for these decisions have come due and the path to long term financial solvency for our state requires shared sacrifices from everyone.



Today, I am introducing a Budget Repair Bill to address our current fiscal year deficit of $136.7 million. Later this month, I will introduce my 2011-2013 Biennial Budget proposal to address the pending $3.6 billion deficit.



The Budget Repair Bill will include a number of reform measures focused on bringing government employee benefits closer to the private sector, including:



· Pension Contributions – Currently, state, school district and municipal employees who are members of the Wisconsin Retirement System contribute very little toward their pensions. The bill requires that WRS employees, including myself and my cabinet officers, as well as employees of the City and County of Milwaukee, contribute 50 percent of their monthly pension contributions. This amount is estimated to be 5.8 percent of salary for 2011, which is about the national average for private sector employees.



· Health Insurance Contributions – Currently, state employees pay approximately 6 percent of annual health insurance premiums. This bill requires that state employees, again including myself and my cabinet officers, pay at least 12 percent of monthly premiums, which is still less than half of what the private sector pays. In addition, the bill directs the Group Insurance Board to implement changes to health insurance plan designs to further reduce premiums by 5 percent and will implement health risk assessments for all state employees beginning on January 1, 2012. Local employers participating in the Public Employers Group Health insurance program operated by the state will be prohibited from paying more than 88 percent of the lowest cost plan.



· Collective Bargaining – Given the above changes, the bill also makes various changes to limit collective bargaining to the base pay rate. Total increases cannot exceed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) unless approved by a referendum. Contracts will be limited to one year and wages will be frozen until the new contract is settled. Collective bargaining units will have to take annual votes to maintain certification as a union. Employers will be prohibited from collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units will not be required to pay dues. These changes take effect upon the expiration of existing contracts. Local police and fire employees and State Patrol Troopers and Inspectors are exempted from these changes.



Collectively, these changes will result in savings of approximately $30 million in the remaining few months of the current fiscal year.



In the days ahead, some may attempt to misrepresent these reform measures, spreading inaccurate or misleading information. To ensure that you know the facts, I would like to proactively address these issues.



Furloughs – Over the last several years, state employees have been required to take furloughs resulting in an across the board pay cut of approximately 3 percent. The Budget Repair Bill and my 2011-2013 Biennial Budget proposal will not include additional furlough days for state employees.



Layoffs – Without the pension and health care reforms described above, saving $30 million over the last three months of the current fiscal year would require laying-off more than 1,500 state government employees. By implementing these reforms, the provisions contained in both my Budget Repair Bill and my 2011-13 Biennial Budget proposal are focused on avoiding layoffs for state employees.



Wisconsin’s Civil Service System –The Budget Repair Bill and my 2011-2013 Biennial Budget proposal will not include any provisions to alter or modify the main tenets of Wisconsin’s Civil Service System, one of the strongest in the nation. The grievance and dispute resolution systems currently in place, as well as all employee protections, will remain.



Vacation and Sick Leave Policy – Recent news stories have suggested that I am considering altering the state’s vacation or sick leave policy. The Budget Repair Bill and my 2011-13 Biennial Budget proposal will not include any provisions to alter or modify state employees’ vacation or sick leave policy. In addition, benefits currently accrued by any state employees will not be altered in any way.



Last week in my State of the State Address, I shared my belief that government employees are among some of the most honest, hard working, dedicated, professional workers in this state. I sincerely believe that.



We all recognize that these are historic times that require us to rethink how government operates. I ask that we continue to work together to do what is necessary to bring the state’s spending in line with our taxpayers’ ability to pay.



Wisconsin’s state employees are second to none in our nation. Our citizens expect great service, and you have delivered. I know you will continue to deliver top-notch programs for Wisconsin’s taxpayers. Thank you again for your service to our state.



Sincerely,



Governor Scott Walker

The budget of evil

Here are details of the budget "repair" bill to be released tomorrow:

THE WHEELER REPORT

111 W. Wilson St. #UL-11 - Madison, WI 53703 - 608-287-0130

E-Mail: wheeler@thewheelerreport.com

Thursday, February 10, 2011



DEFICIT BILL DETAILS

Gov. Walker’s budget adjustment bill items include:

Employee Compensation

PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS. Require that employees of WRS employers and the City and County of Milwaukee contribute 50% of the annual pension payment. The payment amount for WRS employees is estimated to be 5.8% of salary in 2011.
HEALTH INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS. Requires state employees to pay at least 12.6% of the average cost of annual premiums. Require changes to the plan design necessary to reduce current premiums by 5%. Local employers participating in the Public Employers Group Health Insurance plan would be prohibited from paying more than 88% of the lowest cost plan. The bill authorizes the DETF to use $28 million of excess balances in reserve accounts for health insurance and pharmacy benefits to reduce health insurance premium costs.
HEALTH INSURANCE COST CONTAINMENT. Directs the DETF and Group Insurance Board to implement health risk assessments and similar programs aimed at participant wellness, collect certain data related to assessing health care provider quality and effectiveness and verify the status of dependents participating in the state health insurance program. Modifies membership of the Group Insurance Board to require the representative of the Attorney General be an attorney.
PENSION CHANGES FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS AND APPOINTEES. Modifies the pension calculation for elected officials and appointees to be the same as general occupation employees and teachers.
MODIFICATIONS TO WRS AND STATE HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS. Directs DOA, Office of State Employment Relations and DETF to study and report on possible changes to the WRS, including defined contribution plans and longer vesting periods.
GENERAL FUND IMPACT. Authorize the DOA Secretary to lapse or transfer form GPR and PR appropriations, excluding PR appropriations to the UW, to the general fund estimated savings of about $30 million from implementing these provisions.
State and Local Government and School District Labor Relations

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. Make various changes to limit collective bargaining for most public employees to wages. Total wage increases could not exceed a cap based on the CPI unless approved by referendum. Contracts would be limited to one year and wages would be frozen until a new contract is settled. Collective bargaining units are required to take annual votes to maintain certification as a union. Employers would be prohibited from collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units would not be required to pay dues. Changes effective upon expiration of existing contracts. Law enforcement, fire employees and state troopers and inspectors would be exempt from the changes.
CAREER EXECUTIVE TRANSFERS. Allow state employees in the career executive positions to be reassigned between agencies upon agreement of agency heads.
LIMITED TERM EMPLOYEES. Prohibit LTEs from being eligible for health insurance or participation in the WRS.
STATE EMPLOYEE ABSENCES AND OTHER WORK ACTIONS. Authorizes appointing agencies to terminate any employees that are absent for three days without approval of the employer or any employees participating in an organized action to stop or slow work if the governor has declared a state of emergency.
QUALITY HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY. Repeals the authority of home health care workers under the Medicaid program to collectively bargain.
CHILD CARE LABOR RELATIONS. Repeals the authority of family child care workers to collectively bargain with the state.
UW HOSPITALS AND CLINICS BOARD AND AUTHORITY. Repeals collective bargaining for UWHC employees. State positions currently employed by the UWHC are eliminated and incumbents are transferred to the UWHC Authority.
UW FACULTY AND ACADEMIC STAFF. Repeals authority of UW faculty and academic staff to collectively bargain.
Debt Restructuring

The bill authorizes restructuring of principal payments in FY201011 on the state’s GO bonds. The provision reduces debt service costs by $165 million.



Medicaid

ADDRESS FY11 MEDICAID DEFICIT. Increase Medicaid GPR appropriation to cover estimated $153 million deficit.
AUTHORIZE DHS TO RESTRUCTURE PROGRAM NOTWITHSTANDING CURRENT LAW. Authorizes DHS to make program changes, nothwithstanding limits in state law, related to specific provisions.
TECHNICAL CORRECTION. Repeals a provision in Act 28 requiring unused GPR expenditure authority in the Medicaid GPR appropriation at the end of the year to be carried over to the subsequent biennium.

AGING AND DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTERS. Transfers an estimated $3 million in savings in the appropriation to Medicaid.
Corrections

Provides $22 million to address shortfalls in the Dept of Corrections adult institutions appropriation.
TANF. Allocates $37 million of excess TANF revenues to increase TANF funding for the EITC from $6.6 million to $43.6 million in FY2010-11. GPR TANF funding is decreased by a similar amount.
Income Augmentation Revenues

Allow the Dept of Children and Families and DHS to utilize $6 million of already identified income augmentation revenues to meet FY 2010-11 lapse requirements.
Act 28 Required Lapses by DOA Secretary

Act 28 required a lapse or transfer of $680 million in 2009-11 from appropriations made to executive branch agencies to the General Fund. This bill would reduce the amount by $79 million to ensure the lapses can be met in the next five months.

Lapse of Funding from JFC Appropriation

The JFC appropriation includes $4.5 million related to estimated fiscal year 2010-11 implementation of Act 100, OWI enforcement changes. Funding is not anticipated to be needed in FY2010-11 and the bill lapses that amount to the General Fund.



Sale of State Heating Plants

Authorizes DOA to sell state heating plants, with the net proceeds deposited in the budget stabilization fund.



Shift Key Cabinet Agency Positions to Unclassified Status

Creates unclassified positions for chief legal counsel, public information officer and legislative liaison activities in cabinet agencies. An equivalent number of classified positions are deleted to offset the new unclassified positions.

The State of the State and beyond....

It was a cold, windy, snowy night in the Chicken Coop last week Tuesday. The chicks were all hunkered down. What was about to happen didn't make things much warmer...

Earlier that day, the new guy in charge of the State, Governor Scotty had issued an Executive Order closing the portion of the state that was supposed to have a blizzard to the public to keep them out of danger. But, he didn't take the extra step of closing it to the point where State Employees had to stay home. No, he closed offices but employees were required to risk life and limb, to do exactly what? Watch the snow come down? Employees could stay home if they used leave time, which is exactly the way it always it... The chicks heard stories of State Employees getting stuck on the road either going to or coming home from work. People who really care about the work they do...

Later that night, while snow was falling and blowing around the big white domed building in Madison, Governor Scotty delivered his first big speech of his administration---the State of the State. The speech wasn't much, yeah Packers, thanks to his wife and more threatening of State Employees, after he recognized a State Trooper who was hit on the highway earlier in the week (a PUBLIC EMPLOYEE by the way). Oh ya, and thanks to all those legislators who helped him pass bills to make "Wisconsin Open for Business". LC2 heard that one teacher gave him a C+ for his speech....hmmm....

I'm sure after the speech, Gov. Scotty rode home in his big Yukon with his wife and family on roads cleared by PUBLIC EMPLOYEES. On Thursday after PUBLIC EMPLOYEES cleaned everything up, he jumped back in his Yukon (driven by a PUBLIC EMPLOYEE) and traveled around the state reminded folks of what a good job he is doing spending money he doesn't have.

In the meantime, he isn't talking to the State employee unions at all about settling the contract from 2009/2011. Apparently, it's a lot more fun threatening and telling folks that he is going to "force" concessions on State Employees and he'll help local municipalities do the same to their employees.

While Scotty is spending money to give to private employers, "rewarding" his buddies that helped him get elected,figuring out how to destroy the sustainable energy industry in WIsconsin (apparently Wisconsin is not "open to sustainable energy") and traveling in his Yukon, had the State Employee contracts been passed in December, additional money would be coming into the state treasury. The contracts that were presented in December included an increase in payments to health insurance that would total $100 million dollars by the end of June 2011. Yet, Scotty says now that he will get concessions from State Employees that will pay $30 million in three months. How exactly will he do that if he doesn't talk to the Union?

OK, I'm just a little fuzzy chick, but, I can figure out the math $100 million in 6 months would buy a lot more chicken feed than $30 million in 3. And the State Employees (and the chicks) would be much happier. But, I guess that Governor Scotty doesn't want State Employees to be happy, for some reason, he just doesn't like them. Perhaps it's time for him to stop for a minute, and think what his life as Governor would be like without them... Nah....that would be to much work, he'll find a State Employee to do it.

January 3--Madison---It's Accountability Time!

We want good jobs now!

Scott Walker ran for Governor on a promise to create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin. So far, he's chased off more than 12,000 jobs. When not sending jobs to other states, he's busy talking about making good jobs less good by cutting pay for thousands of Wisconsin workers.

The campaign is over. Now it is time to hold him accountable.

Join a silent protest outside the Capitol on Inauguration Day.

11:15am - 12:15pm -- Monday, January 3rd, 2011

Signs reading "WE WANT GOOD JOBS NOW" will be available at 10:30am in the basement of The Argus Bar and Grill, 123 East Main St.

The State Before Christmas

From another UW Oshkosh employee/WPEC member. Used with his permission.

T’was the week before Christmas and all through the State

All employees were leery - what would be our fate?

Labor contracts were hung, defeated again.

There was no more hope for a last minute bargain.

Months of negotiations have been thrown out the window

All those promises and concessions are now just hot air flow.

Union bosses and Dems wring their hands in defeat

as the new "conservative" group prepares to take their seat.

The State Employees Union and AFSCME and WPEC,

All hopes have been dashed by the governor-elect.

"More furloughs, no raises, higher premiums for health care,

you state employees must pay your fair share."

When will the people realize, we're not the ones to blame.

It's the folks down in Madison, regardless the letter by their name.

Republicrats and Demicans, wings of the same bird.

Neither can balance a budget no matter what you've heard.

We work for less pay in exchange for the promise

of being well cared for, that's part of the process.

Yes, our benefits are nice but our pay not so much.

We're not complaining, this isn't some crutch.

Like other employees we just make a living.

Why do the rest of you seem so unforgiving?

Sell the mansion, trim your staff,

combine with the Lieutenant - maybe each just needs half?

The budget problems are real but let’s douse this small blaze:

we've already gone two years with no raise.

The economy is down, everyone has suffered

except elected officials who are quite buffered.

They have no idea - it's really a crime.

Let them cut their pay and give back some this time.

What will they do if we all up and quit?

No, that won't happen - are you full of spit?

But tread very careful our governor to be,

or pitch forks and torches may cause you to flee.

No threats, no coercions, no we won't be mean.

'Cause you're up for re-election in two-thousand fourteen.

Now to end this little rhyme without any fight,

Happy Festivus to all and to all a Good Night.

(All rights reserved – reprint permitted with proper credit given.)

Daniel M. Hoyt

Summary of the failed WSEU Contracts

Below are points from a briefing prepared for legislators on the failed State Employee contracts that stalled in the State Senate on Wednesday, December 15.

The Comp. Time/Overtime language that the Republicans were harping on isn't anything that employees do not already have in their contracts. It gave employees the right to choose between Comp. or Overtime rather than the employer, but, the rate of compensation didn't change. In fact some agencies/employee groups have had this language for several contracts.

Compensation Reserve



The 2009-11 Compensatino Reserve was constructed, presented, and passes into law with no dollars for wage increases or market adjustments for any represented or non-represented employees. The Compensation plans (Non-Rep and Fac/Ac) approved earlier, and these bargaining agreements contain no wage or market increases



The compensation Reserve that was passed was designed to account for various increased employer costs, including Health Insurance and Retirement. It is anticipated that the CR is sufficient to cover the employers biennial costs (ie., to June 30, 2011) though agency draws are affected by many factors, including vacancy rates. As an indication, FY 10 closed with a POSITIVE BALANCE of $2.7 million.



Economics

General wage adjustments FY 2010 $0

Market reserve adjustments FY 2010 $0



General wage adjustments FY 2011 $0

Market reserve adjustments FY 2011 $0



Health Insurance

Tier 1 Single $33

Family $82

Tier 2 Single $72

Family $183

Tier 3 Single $173

Family $435



Employees will pay an additional $1.3 million/annual in contributions to their health insurance premiums.



(Chicks Note--These increases would have started in January 2011. Since the contracts were not approved the increases will not go into effect until the contracts are negotiated with the new administration)



Retirement

The changes are not in the contract, but, all State employees will pay .2% or .8% toward their retirement depending on their employment category (protected, non-protected). Employee contributions are estimated at $5 million annual

Miscellaneous
Furloughs of 8 days per fiscal year will continue. This equates to a 3.08% wage REDUCTION per employee or about $50 million/annual.

TOTAL CONCESSIONS FOR 2009-2011 Biennium would have been $103.15 million.

Althought the contracts were not approved on December 15, most provisions of this agreement are already in place, except for the health insurance increases. The contract that was up for approval memorialized conditions that employees have been working under since July 2009.

So, once again the Governor-elect and his cronies are ending up costing the state money in not getting passing the contracts. THE INCREASED HEALTH INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS WOULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED $1.3 MILLION ANNUALLY TO THE STATE.

Letter to the senators who messed with us

This is the text of an email this chick sent to Russ Decker and Jeff Plale this morning:

Dear Senators,

I am a state employee who is extremely upset today. I and 39,000 other people do not understand what we ever did to make you hate us so much. I am also the chair of the Winnebago County Democratic Party. Both of your votes offended me as a fellow Democrat.

Let me tell you a little about myself so that you know who you are talking to. I work at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in Polk Library, where I am the coordinator of Interlibrary Loan. I have a Bachelor's degree and I have worked at the University for 25 years. I make $35,000 per year gross, which amounts to about $26,000 after taxes. After I pay my mortgage and other bills, this leaves me around $25 or so per day to survive on. I drive a 10 year old car that needs new tires. My home needs a new roof badly and it also needs to be resided. I need a new winter coat and I am trying to figure out how I am going to manage to make my paycheck stretch enough to buy Christmas presents for my family. I am not married, but I share a home with my best friend, because we each could not afford to live on our own. I give to charity as much as I can, but that will most likely have to stop now, since we are facing more deductions from our paychecks. I feel luckier than some of my fellow employees. Many of them make a lot less than I do. They have families and a lot of them have had to take on second jobs. There are a lot of us who have to use food pantries because one check only stretches so far. I don't know anyone who makes more than $50,000 per year (and that's the minority of civil service employees here at UW Oshkosh).

I became involved in the Democratic Party because I thought perhaps it would make a difference in the lives of myself and other fellow workers. Apparently I was wrong. I feel sold out today. I am asking you to please go back when the state senate is called back into session this morning and change your vote to yes. Please don't hurt me and my fellow employees any more. Just for your information, you made a grown woman cry today as she was getting ready for work. Shame on you.

Thank you, Bob Jauch

This text is from a letter Senator Bob Jauch sent to his colleagues:


Dear Colleagues,
If the legislature truly respects the work of our public employees, they should honor that work by
scheduling a vote and ratifying the agreements between the Administration and public employee unions,
and do so with the same strong, bi-partisan support as it has done so with in the past.
The legislature has a long history of ratifying these contracts without partisanship or politics getting in
the way, regardless of the partisan control of the administration or legislature. It is deeply disappointing
that the long standing tradition of the legislature ratifying employee contracts this way is now
threatened. However, the Governor-Elect and many of his fellow Republicans have decided to use this
contract as an opportunity to wage war on a certain group or workers, without any regard or recognition
for the financial sacrifices those employees have already made.
The public employees have taken significant salary cuts and increased benefit costs in these contracts,
tough decisions driven by difficult fiscal and economic realities. In addition, while 10% of state
positions have remained un-filled over the last year, state workers have taken on larger work loads
because they care so deeply about their jobs and their state. Demonizing and threatening workers after
those workers have agreed to contracts that substantially restrict their earning for their families is
offensive. Indeed it is troublesome that these employees may be unilaterally deprived of earnings
necessary to meet family needs because the Republicans don't think they have suffered enough.
The incoming administration and legislative leadership may not like unions, but that does not give them
license to undo the state budget, especially after choosing not to offer any alternatives on the subject
during the budget process. They offered no budget amendments requiring public employees take greater
salary cuts or pay more for their health insurance or pensions while the budget was bring written. To
only try to address this now, through the ratification process, is irresponsible. The Legislature should
honor these two year old agreements and not attempt to impose new restrictions on employees who have
already met their side of the deal. It is punitive to retroactively impose economic hardship on employees
who have professionally fulfilled their responsibilities to the state. I fully expect the Administration and
incoming Republican majorities to adopt numerous changes to public employee collective bargaining in
the next budget but the most respectful approach is to seek a cooperative and respectful relationship with
the State employees instead of the combative nature that has accompanied the debate on these contracts.
Let’s be clear, the workers affected by these contracts are middle class, working families who help
provide vital services to their neighbors, not the “economic elite” that the incoming Governor and
Republicans would have the public believe they are. The hysteria of the attacks leveled by Governor-
Elect Walker against these workers would lead one to believe that they are receiving Wall Street size
bonuses, while the truth is that they are taking pay and benefit cuts, just like many in the private sector.
These employees are not the dark angels responsible for the state’s budget crises. They are our middle
class neighbors who work hard and provide vital services to the citizens of Wisconsin. They work in our
fire halls, promote public safety, care for the disabled, plow our roads, teach our children, prosecute the
criminals and protect our environment. They pay taxes and strive to meet their obligations to their
families, the state and their communities. They too are stressed by economic uncertainty and are
burdened by increased costs to heat their homes and buy goods and services. They also have been hurt
by home value depreciation which limits their ability to improve their homes and lives. During my
campaign I publicly stated my expectation that additional sacrifice will be required of all of us but if
workers are expected to share in additional sacrifice they should be entitled to know what kind of shared
sacrifice the business community will endure and have a seat at the table to determine a fair, responsible
and mutual determination that sacrifice is equal to others.
It’s painful to see the incoming Governor utilize harsh and punitive rhetoric that is so contrary from the
respectful relationship his predecessors have maintained with our public employees. There is a
respectful way to deal with workers and there is a demeaning way. The mature approach to negotiations
is to have a conversation before confrontation. The Wisconsin way is to seek mutual cooperation to
approach common goals instead of treating workers as the enemy. Partisanship has never gotten in the
way of ratifying contracts. The responsible step is to honor the work public employees have performed
and acknowledge their financial sacrifice before demanding retroactive economic sanctions to address
economic problems these employees are not responsible for creating.
Governing is not easy and there are few right answers to the difficult economic challenges from this
recession. However, our employees are part of the commonwealth that makes Wisconsin special. I
strongly encourage my colleagues to depart from the polarizing politics of the election and maintain the
tradition that most Republicans have fully embraced through the years that honor the value of their
work but importantly would acknowledge the true meaning of shared sacrifice in dealing with
Wisconsin's budget problems
Sincerely,
Bob Jauch
State Senator

A Week in the Life of the Governor-Elect

The chicks are getting annoyed enough to come back in from the coop and make some comments on the week that was with Wisconsin’s Governor-elect.

Last Thursday Scotty got to ride a big airplane to Washington DC to meet the President of the United States. He even got to eat lunch at the same table as the Secretary of the Dept. of Transportation. His hope was that when President Obama met him, he would be so impressed that he’d say, oh yes, you can use that stimulus money on roads instead of a train. Guess he found out that wasn’t going to happen….but more on that later.

On Friday, it was a little less exciting for the Governor-elect. Bet he didn’t even know that he was just a short way from the chicks coop. The chicks decided to just do our own thing on Friday, be happy and get a big green tree to put in the coop. We ignored his visit. However, lots of the chicks friends and coworkers worked very hard setting up Kolf Fieldhouse for his visit as part of the New North Summit. Unfortunately the Governor elect doesn’t realize that some of the folks who work hard to make these events happen are making less then $30,000 a year! A few days later, he was busy saying mean spirited things, like the “haves” (ie., State Employees) need to fork over some of their “extra” money and contribute more for health insurance and pensions. Kinda tough to figure out how someone making less then $30,000 a year, taking 8 furlough days and looking at more toward their pension and health insurance in January is going to find that extra money.

While Scotty was visiting Oshkosh, our WSEU friends were getting their ballots to vote on their 2009-2011 contract. Some mean ol’ Republican roosters and hens got a copy of some of the new language and are making simple concepts like compensatory time and overtime seem evil. Our friends have always had that language, the employee just has a choice now which they want to use. They also saw the proposal for health insurance contributions and said it’s just not enough, you must pay more or we will take away your union. The Governor-elect isn’t real happy with our WSEU friends and sent his minions out to say mean things about them over the weekend to say.

Scotty must have gotten coal in his St. Nicholas sock on Monday, because on Tuesday he was pretty upset when in talked to the Milwaukee Press Club making threats to our state employee friends. Using nasty words like decertify the unions that represent State employees. He also hinted that he’d like to see all unions have their feathers clipped by making Wisconsin a Right to Work state. The chicks sure aren’t surprised by this, but, seems like some folks just weren’t listening in fall when we were working hard to get a much better person elected as Governor.

On Thursday, Oshkosh got it’s first real snow of the season. Everything is pretty and white, but, the Grinch that Stole Christmas (also known as the Governor-elect), got his first gift. President Obama took away the money for the train that was going to go from Milwaukee to Madison and help give people jobs. But, the Grinch didn’t get exactly what he wanted, the President told him that he couldn’t use the money for roads either.

High speed train around Wisconsin would have been real nice for our people friends to use to travel instead of having to drive on slippery highways. Guess we all have to remember what the Lt. Govenor-elect said when she was campaigning, “I don’t need at train….I have a minivan”. Maybe she doesn’t have to pay almost $3 a gallon for gas on State Employee wages….oh wait, she has Health insurance from the state and her husband IS a state employee right now. Whoops, I forgot.

And now we’ve reached Friday. The Governor-elect gets to make make a big check mark next to “eliminate high speed rail from Milwaukee to Madison” on his Christmas list. I’m sure the next check mark he’d like to make is to eliminate those pesky unions.

But, remember Scotty, just like with the train, “you can’t always get what you want”.

Get well soon!

As was published in the Oshkosh Northwestern, 54th Assembly Rep. Gordon Hintz has been hospitalized. Get well soon Gordon, the Labor Chicks miss you!

Hope it is wasn't the chili on Sunday!

--LC2

More on the forum--guest blogger!

Below are some comments from one of our union brothers. I apologize, I have done some editing to avoid to much controversy, but, I think you still get the drift of the misinformation being given out by Mark Reiff candidate in the 54th Assembly race.... my comments are in RED

--LC2

Mark Reiff proposes to help solve the energy issue by lifting the moratorium on new nuclear plants in Wisconsin. He proposed new generation plants, and if the nuclear waste is an issue had the following suggestion....

northern Wisconsin to be a nuclear dumping site (for the benefit of 9 billion dollars of federal funding flowing into it). ...

As far as Reiff's wrong assertion on 400 excess COs working in the Department Of Corrections with nothing to do

I cornered him after the debate and took him in the back and quizzed him where he had gotten the information he was fronting Hintz on. Reiff stated that he had been "invited"/ "walked in" to a Guards Union Meeting and at that meeting..... He started stuttering at this point and became hesitant; profusely explaining that he, IN NO WAY, was calling for cuts of employees (in the Prisons) if they were not needed... I pressed him on the meeting and information he supposedly received. Reiff stated that at this meeting he was told by the "Guards" that were there that the DOC was over staffed to the tune of 400 security employees and they had nothing to do...

I told Reiff... OK now I am going to set you straight... The DOC (as Gordon had told him in the debate) had received hiring authority for 150 some positions... 50 some of those positions were to make corrections "whole" due to the refusal to rid the DOC of mid management positions and the other 100 were for, among other things, the abatement of Overtime. Reiff started nodding eagerly and started snuddering about how yeah mandatory overtime was a bad thing. I told him further that it is almost certain that the DOC has in fact hired positions above and beyond this position authority to cover expected retirements and purposed expansions...I also told him that these efforts have generally reduced overtime across the board and (for the most part) across the state.,,,, Anyway I told him that if he continued to run around the district and tell people that the DOC had 400 some COs working with out anything to do he was headed for deep trouble... He again started spitting and stuttering about he has no interest in cutting needed security positions.

I finished by telling him that if he needed to fact check himself he should contact (Marty) Beil or he could contact Raimmish who is a dam Republican anyway LOL.

.....

Randy Hopper---get the facts

Last night, the Chicks went to the local political version of the Superbowl, the Oshkosh League of Women Voters Forum. This is always a great event, giving candidates and the community the chance to hear from the candidates in an hour long interaction. The forums last night were for the 53rd Assembly, 54th Assembly and 18th Senate races. We're going to concentrate on the 18th Senate right now.

The is the second forum where Randy Hopper, the Republican candidate for the open 18th Senate district referred to Legislative Sick Leave benefits, his desire to eliminate them and the "cash" payouts. He also discussed this at Oshkosh Northwestern "Under the Dome" forum several weeks ago. At that one, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, with him not being a State Employee, the benefit is confusing. State Employees, including Legislators, Judges and all elected officials have the opportunity to accumulate sick leave. At retirement, whatever is accumulated is converted to a cash amount that is put toward health insurance. No one sees the cash--NO CASH RANDY! The majority of State Employees have to account for their time, and are required to report to someone when they are using sick leave. This is also accounted in some way, shape or form to payroll departments. Because of the nature of the legislature, they do not report when using sick time, and as result, many have accumulated large amounts of sick leave, especially those who have had a long tenure. Illnesses and hospitalizations have been reported, but, no sick leave used. So, there is some question about this benefit for elected officials. It should be added that the Republicans have enjoyed the benefit in the past just like Democrats. In fact, the benefit was created during Tommy Thompson's tenure as Governor.

Randy Hopper brought the issue up again last night. I thought it was time to correct him. After the forum, I introduced myself and told him where I worked. I asked him how he understood the benefit to work. He proceeded to tell me how Shirley Abramson and long term legislators have all this sick time built up. I told him that I understand the benefit, but, that he had some parts of it wrong, ie., NO CASH PAYOUT RANDY! I told him that it works the same for all state employees. Instead of letting me explain it, he asked me if I would agree with anything he said, then said that it was late and he wanted to go spend time with his family. His "handlers" immediately swarmed around him and he snottily walked off.

Well.........

If I wasn't fired up about this race before I am now. I guess I'm wondering if this is how Mr. Hopper intends to treat constituents should he, God forbid get elected. When someone talks to him about issues and they don't agree, perhaps he will kick them out of his office like a former State Representative did. Randy, here are some facts-- there are at least 2100 State Employees in the 18th Senate District. You will have to talk to us. And regarding your snotty behavior last night, at least 4 of them saw it.

Randy, it's time to take off the blinders and get some information outside of your carefully crafted Republican script. A State Senator needs to think on his feet, not expect handlers and staffers to take care of doing the work. Too many of your answers are either vague, scripted or you don't know, but I'll get to it with an answer on my web page. So is that answer posted on your web page really from you, or a staff person?

Also, legislator hours aren't very regular and you may have to spend long hours down in Madison. If you don't want to deal with an issue, are you just going to leave because its late?

This sure doesn't sound like a legislator I want to deal with and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure Jess King gets elected for State Senate in the 18th Senate.

--LC2

New Page rally report

LC2 and I attended the rally on Saturday afternoon for the employees of New Page in Kimberly, WI who as of this morning have all lost their jobs.

I believe that the reason the plant closed is pure corporate greed. New Page wants to control and compress the market for coated paper (used in magazines, catalogs, etc.) and doesn't want any competition, so that the prices will rise because of less of this type of paper on the market and they will profit. I also believe that they had this in mind from the moment they bought the plant. Unfortunately this means the loss of around 500-600 family supporting jobs from the area. The plant is located in the heart of Kimberly--apparently the town was built around the plant.

At the rally, there were lots of area politicians--not surprising since it is an election year. The gist of the political speeches (we left after an hour and a half) was that the Democrats all talked about how bad this was for the city and vowed to do what they can to help the people of Kimberly fight this. The Republicans pretty much held up their hands in defeat and told the crowd there's not much they can do and that they should let the market work and maybe the plant will come back online. Interestingly, the group of Republican politicians there all left the stage en masse before the rally was over.

Now, I don't know how much interference any politician could have run on a private company to derail this kind of decision, but at least they could try and not give up and go home. It's stupid to even look that way in front of a crowd of about 3000 people who are there to support these folks in their hour of need. Geez, at least fight a little.

I was really happy to hear on the local news this morning that a group of now former New Page employees are on their way down to corporate New Page headquarters in Dayton, OH to see what they can do about it. Godspeed, my fellow AFL-CIO brothers and sisters.

All we hope is that the voters of the area keep this sort of thing in mind when they vote tomorrow and on November 4.

--LC1

Do I hear an echo?

I had a recent encounter with Michelle Litjens, former Winnebago County Republican Chair and now Vice Chair of the Wisconsin Republican 6th Congressional District. Let me begin by saying, she is a very nice person and I admire anyone who puts into action what they believe. Unfortunately, some of those things she believes are misguided and just wrong thinking.

For example, she was talking about how she just loves her health savings account (HSA) and fervently believes that we should "let the market work" with respect to health insurance. I don't know about letting the market work--isn't that how we got into such a mess now? It's all well and good that she and her husband have the money to put into an HSA. Not everyone does. Some people are just scraping by and making it from paycheck to paycheck. She proceeded to denigrate the "Healthy Wisconsin" plan that is endorsed by the AFL-CIO in Wisconsin. (Read about the Healthy Wisconsin plan here: http://www.healthywisconsin.net/Healthy_Wisconsin__The_Deta.html )

She made it sound like it would be a handout of health care to everyone--she apparently didn't read the fine print or is just echoing the Republican legislator point of view. She then went to to give personal reflections on her advice to some of her tenants (she and her husband run a home rental business) who have no health insurance. She has guided them to go and apply for Badger Care. Now, excuse me for pointing this out, but if we are painting the proposed health care reform system as a bad thing and a government handout(which it really isn't), then why would you in the next breath guide people to another health care program that is, at least in the Republican mind as best as I can figure it out, a government handout program. I don't get it.

I'm trying to understand what Republicans want with respect to health care. Michelle is a proponent of personal responsibility, some tenets which I actually agree with. She carries the idea a little too far for me and a lot of others. Are Republicans truly following the call of their churches with respect to the idea of caring for the poor? Last week in our church bulletin, there was an interesting insert on "Faithful Citizenship". I hope Michelle and other Republicans at church read this thoroughly. I know I did. I also went to the website for the Catholic church to read more about it: http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/
In the website, the document with the title of "Forming consciences for faithful citizenship" tells the reader multiple times in many different ways that everyone should have the right to health care, that it is our moral responsibility to make sure that everyone does. If we "let the market work" as the Republicans echo, will everyone have health care or will only the wealthiest amongst us end up with health care?

--LC1

A little history....

From the DC AFL-CIO This week in Labor History (scroll down)
During the Great Depression, the Seattle Library Board announces it will fire married women if their husbands have jobs and can support them. Nine are fired; 14 others keep their positions by submitting affidavits and swearing to the fact that their husbands earned less than $100 a month (8/23/1932)