By Douglas V. Gibbs
Despite the court's temporary restraining order against Wisconsin's union law that limits collective bargaining, Wisconsin Republicans made sure the law went into effect. Once published, the governor planned to carry out the law.
The creative maneuvers, which included the Legislative Reference Bureau publishing the piece of legislation, employed by the Republicans to get the bill through, included a period where the Democrats fled the state, and protesters pounded the capitol with threats and violent rhetoric. Once the law was published, the courts backed down, realizing that their rulings meant nothing when faced with a legislature and governor determined to ensure the law went into effect.
The courts, however, are not out of the equation. Another lawsuit challenging the law has been brought by Democratic Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. In the end, it is expected that the state Supreme Court will make the final decision.
The final step for the law to take effect requires the Secretary of State Doug La Follette to order the law published in a newspaper too, and the judge last week ordered La Follette to not do it. Whether or not the GOP will press forward there, as well, is yet to be seen.
The Republicans argue the law is in effect, regardless of the final step of publication.
The lawsuits allege lawmakers broke the state open meetings law by hastily calling a special committee meeting to put the bill in a form that the Senate could pass it without the Democrats who had fled present. However, after referring to Wisconsin Senate Rule 93, it is clear the GOP acted within the established rules.
The union law being questioned requires nearly all public sector workers to contribute more to their pensions and health insurance than they currently do. The amount requested is still much lower than what is expected of their private sector counterparts. The law also limits collectively bargaining for everything except salary.
The unions, outraged by the law, see it as a move that will begin to strip them of their power. The necessity of the law as a tool for balancing the budget in Wisconsin enables the State to avoid laying off public sector employees. The clear signal is that the unions don't care about the workers, it is about preserving union power to them, and the governor and Legislature are simply trying to balance their budget, and save jobs.
The union has also claimed that the Republican assault on the union goes against the idea of democracy, despite the fact that the governor and legislature were elected through a democratic process, and are doing what they were elected to do: balance the budget.
Meanwhile, in Florida, the Florida House approved a bill banning automatic dues deduction from a government paycheck and require members to sign off on the use of their dues for political purposes.
The battle between the parties lasted nearly two hours, but in the end the bill passed the State House, beginning the process of getting the state out of the dues deduction business and let the unions take care of it.
Florida is a "right to work" state, which means a worker is not forced to join a union. But many public employees do so, and state employers typically withhold union dues from workers' paychecks. A portion of those dues is set aside by their unions for education, community action — and political contributions mostly to the Democrat Party.
Last election, the Florida teachers' union gave more than $3.4 million in campaign contributions, mostly to Democrats. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees doled out nearly $1.4 million, much of it directly to the state Democratic Party. And the AFL-CIO and other labor groups gave hundreds of thousands of dollars more.
The Senate version of the bill, sponsored by Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, has one more committee stop before it makes it to the floor.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Wisconsin Union Law Published Despite Court Order - ABC News
House approves bill banning automatic deduction for union dues - Orlando Sentinel
1 comment:
Let us acknowledge the right for all workers to collective bargaining with the limitation that it is a right, but should not be a condition of employment. The results of collective bargaining are often to the detriment of the workers. The UAW got sweetheart deals, and management looking the other way when workers got less and less productive. Result? Check out the nearest lot for Hondas, Nissans and Toyotas, and check out Detroit's dismal streets or available manufacturing space here in Fenton, Missouri.
The public sector is much the same in that the negotiators across the table from the unions are as spineless, perhaps even more corrupt, then those of the Big Three who gave away the store to the UAW. So let us seek legislation that would require public sector contracts be put to the vote of the taxpayers, just as the UAW contracts and member behavior were put to the vote of the car buyer. Unions' and management’s last best offers go on the ballot for a binding vote by the electorate. And, should we feel the politicians charged with representing us are too spineless, or have made too generous an offer to the unions, we need only look down the ballot to find the opportunity to throw them out. If these thoughts make sense, pass them on. If you have suggestions to improve, speak out and please send me your thoughts
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