No class in WI as teachers protest union-busting governor

[Yuri-G]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/17/wis...ex.html?hpt=T2

(CNN) -- At least 15 school systems in Wisconsin canceled Thursday's classes because teachers and other public employees will continue protests at the state Capitol over a bill that would strip them of most of their collective bargaining rights and increase their contributions for benefits.

At least 10,000 employees and supporters rallied Wednesday in Madison in opposition to legislation supported by Republican Gov. Scott Walker.


Classes will not be held for a second day Thursday in the Madison Metropolitan School District, said spokesman Ken Syke, because of a call by the Wisconsin Education Association Council for people to come to the Capitol on Thursday and Friday to "stand beside your neighbors, family and friends to help our voices be heard."

Syke earlier said about 40 percent of 2,600 teachers, assistants, social workers and psychologists in the bargaining unit called in sick late Tuesday, forcing the district to cancel Wednesday's classes for 24,500 students.


School officials in Oregon, south of Madison, said they canceled classes Thursday because of anticipated staff absences.

CNN affiliate WISC listed the multiple school closings on its website.

Walker said Wednesday he is dealing with a budget crisis. Employees and unions contend his bill is an assault on worker rights.

"This is all about balancing the budget," Walker wrote on his Twitter account. "WI needs leadership."

Walker is asking legislators to pass his "Budget Repair Bill" to combat a $137 million shortfall through June 30. An upcoming two-year budget for 2011-13 must address a pending $3.6 billion deficit, he said.

The bill cleared the Joint Finance Committee Wednesday night on a 12-4 vote, CNN affiliate WKOW in Madison, Wisconsin, reported and can now move onto the state Senate.

In a budgetary scenario being played out in other cash-strapped states and municipalities, the legislation requires workers to cover more of their health care premiums and pension contributions, although supporters say local governments will decide on health care contribution for their employees.

The legislation also requires collective bargaining units to conduct annual votes to maintain certification. Unions would lose the right to have dues deducted from worker paychecks and collective bargaining can only cover wages.

The bill has prompted protests from public employees and supporters. On Tuesday, an estimated 13,000 people thronged Tuesday to the Capitol, followed by 10,000 Wednesday, said Carla Vigue, spokeswoman for the Department of Administration.

Unions said the number of protesters was much higher.

"I appreciate the fact that the folks here today will have a chance to have their voices heard," Walker told reporters Wednesday. "But I want to be sure the taxpayers of Wisconsin will have their chance to have their voices heard."

"Calling this a budget bill is a smokescreen," said Bryan Kennedy, president of AFT-Wisconsin, which represents about 17,000 employees. "This is an attack on all labor organizations."

Sign-carrying protesters jammed the Capitol rotunda on Tuesday and Wednesday, chanting "Kill the bill" and "Workers Unite." Thousands more marched outside in the snow.
The governor, who took his campaign for the bill to his Twitter account, said he was talking with some legislators about protections for workers.

Walker's press secretary, Cullen Werwie, told CNN he expects the measure to reach the Senate on Thursday and, possibly, the Assembly (lower chamber) on Friday. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans, but the legislation likely faces a tougher test in the Senate.

Under the bill, public employees in the Wisconsin Retirement System would pay about 5.8% of their salaries toward pensions, up significantly from 0.2%, Werwie said. And state workers would pay for 12.6% of their monthly health care premiums, up from between 4% and 6% percent.

Pay raises would be limited to inflation, unless a referendum approves of a larger increase.

"This is not something unusual," Walker said of the employee contributions. "That is what middle-class workers in this state have experienced."

The legislation would save the state about $30 million between now and the end of June and, if continued, an estimated $300 million during the next two years, Walker has said. He said workers in the private sector pay higher percentages of their pay for health care and pensions.

The governor visited private businesses on Tuesday, arguing the bill would end furloughs and prevent layoffs.

"People viewed what we are proposing as modest," he said.

The changes do not apply to to police, firefighters and state troopers, who would continue to bargain for their benefits.

But the proposed curtailing of most collective bargaining rights among public employees has drawn the most vocal complaints. There are about 300,000 state and local workers in the heavily unionized state.

Of 425 primary and secondary school systems, for example, employees at all but two are covered by AFT-Wisconsin or the National Education Association, Kennedy told CNN.

Walker, he claimed, is ignoring $100 million in previous employee concessions and wants to take his measure directly to a vote rather than negotiate.

Calling Wisconsin a "state in turmoil," Kennedy said the debate is "not a financial issue. It is about worker rights."

His group is calling for more rallies on Thursday to "keep the pressure on."
The website for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees featured a video of interviews with union workers.

"This is the state where collective bargaining for public employees started," one said. "If Wisconsin falls, so does the nation."

Because of the budget imbroglio, the Madison school district warned teachers that they would be docked pay if they were sick Wednesday through Friday and returned without a note from a medical provider, Syke said. They may face other sanctions.

Although Superintendent Daniel A. Nerad wrote Walker, asking him to return to the table to discuss collective bargaining, he also has said "our No. 1 responsibility is to instruct students," Syke said.

Some students left school Tuesday to join the protests, the spokesman said.

Many states, including California and New York, are grappling with budget deficit crises.
A month after Illinois lawmakers approved a massive tax hike, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday unveiled a $35.4 billion budget that depends on state lawmakers approving $8.7 billion in new borrowing largely to clear a towering stack of unpaid bills.

The budget, which increases spending by $1.7 billion from the previous year and closes a $13 billion gap, slashes programs for the elderly, the poor and the disabled, but leaves education funding largely untouched. No layoffs of state workers are suggested.

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it's about time someone took on those greedy, taxpayer-robbing, sports-car driving elite public school teachers.

[Izzy]

it's about time someone took on those greedy, taxpayer-robbing, sports-car driving elite public school teachers.

This union held way too much power, and needed to be taken care of in the first place. If you saw what benefits these teachers got, you'd be pissed off.

[Fhqwghads]

This is nothing but par for the course when it comes to government officials and budgets. Instead of cutting useless programs and reducing payrolls for overpaid state employees who have pointless jobs, the first thing on any official's agenda is cut spending in a way that hurts taxpayers. This softens them up so they'll be more apt to accept tax increases. Usually the items at the top of the list are public services like parks, schools, etc. Deprive teh kidz of educationz!? No wai! Go ahead, increase my taxes, won't someone PLEASE think of the children!

We have the same type of bullshit political maneuvering of taxpayers here in Washington state right now. The budget balancing act these assclowns are trying to implement consists of cutting aid for homeless people and the unemployed. The balls of these jackasses must be huge to assert that they need to kick people when they're at their lowest or the state will suffer. Meanwhile they're using $500 boxes of toilet paper to wipe their butts.

I really, really despise politicians.

[Yuri-G]

This union held way too much power, and needed to be taken care of in the first place. If you saw what benefits these teachers got, you'd be pissed off.

I'd love to see it actually, could you provide some hard data for us?

[*Shinzon*]

Fuck teacher's unions, seriously. Many teachers only have jobs because of tenure and not because they are actually valuable teachers providing valuable learning for students. They prevent the state from hiring new teachers because there are simply no jobs and budgets are maxed out. Bloomberg here in NYC has been trying to get rid of the older teachers and replace them with younger ones and people are going apeshit about that too. At some point people have to realize that these people are actually costing you money and not producing results. If your students are consistently not producing there is no reason you should have a job, obviously barring certain situations and circumstances.

[Eliseos]

I'd love to see it actually, could you provide some hard data for us?

Milwaukee Area Technical College average salaries: http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/dat.../33534809.html

A cosmetologist makes over 100k/year

Milwaukee Public Schools budgets: http://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfile...mployee-costs/

[Izzy]

I'd love to see it actually, could you provide some hard data for us?

I'm mistaken, I was thinking of the RI teachers union.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-24/u...lists?_s=PM:US

Fuck teacher's unions, seriously. Many teachers only have jobs because of tenure and not because they are actually valuable teachers providing valuable learning for students. They prevent the state from hiring new teachers because there are simply no jobs and budgets are maxed out. Bloomberg here in NYC has been trying to get rid of the older teachers and replace them with younger ones and people are going apeshit about that too. At some point people have to realize that these people are actually costing you money and not producing results. If your students are consistently not producing there is no reason you should have a job, obviously barring certain situations and circumstances.

This.

We have teachers in this state, who committed some sort of major infraction, were removed from their job as a teacher, and have been getting paid for 10+ years, and will continue to be paid until they reach age 65. That's how much power teachers unions have.

[Olo401]

This union held way too much power, and needed to be taken care of in the first place. If you saw what benefits these teachers got, you'd be pissed off.

Oh yeah and the Gov is taking care of them all right - there was a new contract with tons of concessions on the part of the workers that was in negotiations for OVER A YEAR before this goon even got elected (nevermind the stuff floating around about businesses and lobbying groups paying off people in the unions to reject the contract). Now he comes into office and simply says "screw you and your concessions, I'll have my cronies in the legislature just plain break you in half and if you don't like it I'll have the National Guard shoot you."

And on top of it, he's gonna just plain take all the money that people have paid into their pensions for decades, not just the money that the state paid in. Then again has to do something to pay back the federal funds that were already spent when he rejected the money for the high speed rail projects.

I guarantee right now that Walker will be recalled in January 2012. It's just a fucking shame that it'll already be too late to stop the damage.

[Izzy]

And on top of it, he's gonna just plain take all the money that people have paid into their pensions for decades, not just the money that the state paid in.

lol really? What a dick move.

[Not Kuno]

Unions are needed. Tenure is needed. If you disagree with either of these you are wrong.

[Restrat]

thats sooo complicated.... its much easier to just go "OMG union suck bad teacherS!!!"

[Amelya]

Where does it say that they're going to take the money they've already paid into their pensions? I haven't seen that anywhere.

[Kuya]

A conumdrum isn't it? Sometimes unions get in the way of specific policy goals, but without unions workers either get chafted or they don't live as comfortable existences as those happy robber baron bankers that still seem to keep their jobs after collapsing the economy, without the help of unions.

[*Shinzon*]

They should be able to fight for their salaries and have job security. They should not be and cannot be allowed to hold onto their jobs simply because they can. They hold our city's budget hostage and the children don't learn, get held back, schools close and teachers lose their jobs anyway because schools that consistently produce poor results get closed by the city. They need to know when to walk away because all they do is cripple the already unstable public education system.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

A conumdrum isn't it? Sometimes unions get in the way of specific policy goals, but without unions workers either get chafted or they don't live as comfortable existences as those happy robber baron taxpayers that still seem to keep their jobs after collapsing the economy, without the help of unions.

There we go.

[Olo401]

Trying to keep pace with everything plus reply doing stuff @ work, so hang with me if I'm slow to reply..

Where does it say that they're going to take the money they've already paid into their pensions? I haven't seen that anywhere.

My mistake I figured that's was part of the plan (based on the fact that it was part of the former gov's plan here in RI). Right now it looks like he only wants to increase mandatory contributions from workers to their pensions to 5.8%. The only thing this changes is how much the state puts in - the effect to workers is minor because AFAIK just about everyone who has a pension in this country greatly overpays into it out of habit. The real outrage of this proposal is that it strips not just teachers unions, but ALL public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights and limits ANY contracts to one year. In other words the true purpose of this bill is not to save money at all, but to plain break the unions with force if necessary.

Bonus pic/vid from Madison.. Yeah we're gonna need the National Guard for this one.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/...p9gYY/610x.jpg

[Cantih]

A conumdrum isn't it? Sometimes unions get in the way of specific policy goals, but without unions workers either get chafted or they don't live as comfortable existences as those happy robber baron bankers that still seem to keep their jobs after collapsing the economy, without the help of unions.

Power is abuseable, it's as simple as that.
Unions are worthwhile in the face of exploitative businesses, but their same strength can be used to turn them exploitative as well.

[Dimmauk]

http://cuadie.files.wordpress.com/20...e_children.jpg

Good teachers should get paid better, the bad ones need to GTFO.

[Plow]

the most fucked up thing about this is that if it gets through, it will stick, and all the people that voted to pass it will get reelected by the people they're fucking

[Plow]

p.s. this isn't just about teachers