WI Governor's Fake Budget Crisis: Gave Tax Breaks to Wal-Mart to Further Real
Agenda -- Union Busting
Reprinted from DailyKosI
have been attending the rallies, watching the coverage, reading the
blogs and comments and come to the conclusion that most people don't
know the true horror of this bill. I have come to set the record
straight particularly when I saw a Front Page Diary here on Daily Kos
that, again, talks about this bill only affecting state workers. There
is no fiscal crisis in Wisconsin. Governor Walker reports a nearly 130
million dollar deficit, but doesn't report that he caused it
by giving a 140 million dollar tax break to large multinational
corporations here in Wisconsin (e.g. WalMart). However, this cover
story gives him an excuse to do the unthinkable.State
workers in Wisconsin have been without contracts for some time. The
latest agreement (containing major concessions) was not passed by the
State Legislature last year due to political maneuvering which led one
Democrat to vote against it (he was later rewarded with a position in the new
Walker administration).But
that's not really what I came to talk about. I came to talk about a
so-called Budget Repair Bill to solve a fake budget crisis without
addressing the budget at all.So,
what's in the bill? Prohibition of any unions or collective bargaining
for most state workers. Those that continue to have any union
representation at all will be limited to bargaining for wages
only which will have a mandatory limit which will be set annually by
the State Legislature. So, basically, the boss will tell you how much
you are permitted to ask for.No
collective bargaining over insurance (so employees can be given high
deductible junk insurance with no say in the matter), benefits,
pensions, holidays or personal days, vacation, working conditions,
adequate staffing, class size, worker safety issues, mandatory overtime,
shift selection, requests for days off, etc.If
that wasn't bad enough, union dues would no longer be collected through
payroll deduction so the unions would have to collect the dues
themselves member by member. On top of that, unions would need to
recertify every year . This is the same process that is used when employees
band together to form a union in the first place;
a process already so onerous and difficult (therefore, profitable to
the many union-busting firms across this country) that new unions and
locals are rarely formed.Think
that's bad? The real hidden horror is that Scott Walker didn't stop
with state employees, but extended the impact of the bill to all city, town,
village, and county employee in the State of Wisconsin.
That's the real reason that thousands of public employees are in
Madison. It's why non-public employee unions are supporting us. It's
why students, patients, and citizens in general have joined us.I'm
just a retired Milwaukee Country Registered Nurse. My voice doesn't
count. Sometimes I wonder if all my activism counts. But my voice and
my activism count today as I join with thousands of proud Wisconsinites
to protest the rise of a Dictator.I
hope I've educated you to the realities of this bill. Thanks for all
the support, comments, and love that we get here. Kossack love is like
no otherr.
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/479146/wi_governor%27s_fake_budget_crisis%3A_gave_tax_breaks_to_wal-mart_to_further_real_agenda_--_union_busting/
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