You really didn't think that the Wisconsin walkouts, protests, running away and more was really a grass roots effort, did you?
From jsonline: "National union spokesman sent talking points to Senate Democrats"
The same day Senate Democrats left the state to boycott a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining bill, a union official from Washington, D.C., provided the Democrats' leader with talking points. Emails released by the office of Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona) show how Democratic senators sought to explain their unusual action to drive to Illinois to block a vote on Walker’s measure, which would end most collective bargaining by public employee unions. The measure ultimately passed the Legislature but is now facing legal challenges. One of the people offering suggestions to Senate Democrats was Blaine Rummel, a spokesperson from the national office of the public workers union AFSCME, also known as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Rummel sent an email marked “TPs,” for talking points, to Miller spokesman Mike Browne late on Feb. 17 after Senate Democrats had crossed the state line that morning. Also that day, Rummel had helped coordinate AFSCME’s opposition to the bill in Wisconsin, speaking to media outlets like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Rummel sent the talking points to the personal email of Miller spokesman Mike Browne, but the email turned up in an open records request by the Journal Sentinel because it was forwarded on to Miller’s official email account. “We’re on the job. The fact is, Wisconsin legislators are sworn to protect people’s rights, not take them away. And we are fulfilling our oath,” one of the talking points reads.
And to show how sincere local government unions about their members, the unions representing Sauk, WI. County government employees totally under the bus as they caved in on all economic issues so the union can still collect the dues of the employees.
From POWIP: Wisconsin has continued to convulse in the violent throes of Solidarity Fever. Living only six blocks from the State Capitol in Madison, the very epicenter of this social contagion, I’ve had ample opportunity to observe its etiology, spread, and ugly effects. Up until now, most rank-and-file union members have viewed Solidarity Fever as a boon, not a danger. But my post today may well change some minds. In fact, a pernicious lie catalyzes the transmission of this mass malady among union members. Ultimately, that lie robs those infected of crucial awareness and reality testing that could save their bacon. The lie is that government employee unions actually care about, protect, and work honestly and diligently on behalf of their members. They don’t. Not one iota. And I now have solid proof to back up my assertion...
Let’s listen first to Sauk County Corporation Counsel Todd Liebman as he tells the board how representatives from AFSCME and SEIU, knowing they were up against Governor Walker’s Budget Adjustment Bill, approached him and gave him carte blanche to write contracts pertaining to the employees they respectively represented. While Liebman doesn’t discuss it here, the WPPA must similarly have sold out its clerical members. Next, Mr. Liebman walks the board through changes he subsequently made to all five contracts in question—changes that, with the full assent of the union reps, swung all fiscally related employment matters out of the purview of collective bargaining and squarely into the control of the county. So, according to each of the revised contract drafts (a representative sample of which you can find here), the county would have the power through 2013 to: Implement a 0% pay increase each year Hire and fire at will in the face of economic difficulty Change or even abolish pay classifications Deetermine type and level of healthcare coverage offered Increase healthcare contribution levels over time Set the level of pension contributions Not exactly a super “bargain” for the members of these bargaining units, huh? If I were in their shoes, I would certainly be asking myself how exactly I benefited from this arrangement.
So, why did the union capitulate? Here's why: Can’t you just hear the gears turning in this woman’s head? “Wait… Hold on… Something’s off here…” Yes indeed, my dear supervisor! AFSCME, SEIU, and the WPPA all willingly threw their own members right under the bus in order to make sure they REMAINED members and paid FORCED UNION DUES for another 33 months. It wasn’t about providing certainty to union members at all. Rather, it was about providing certainty to union BOSSES, who couldn’t afford to lose access to automatic extraction of dues from all of those lovely, lovely government employee paychecks. So, now members of four of the above-mentioned bargaining units are bound by 33-month contracts that amount to sugar-sprinkled crapola. What do they get for a substantial net loss in pay, benefits, and security…? The privilege of continuing to pay union dues, whether they like it or not. And if you think those dues will now be decreased “in solidarity” with the plight of Wisconsin workers…? Hey, I’ve got some land in Florida I can sell you real cheap, right on the water.
Yep, it's all about the unions and not the union members. We are finding these kind of contracts throughout Wisconsin now, all to protect the union- not the union member.
Union members: Do you feel like suckers now?
No comments:
Post a Comment