Wisconsin lame duck Dem governor complete union deals before leaving

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/107574473.html


"Gov. Jim Doyle's administration has agreed to no-pay raise contracts with six unions covering thousands of state workers and is finishing more agreements at a time when Governor-elect Scott Walker is calling for those negotiations to stop."

Thanks for getting them done, Jim. I've not been a big fan but appreciate your protecting our citizens.

Thank goodness that a lame duck session did not go to waste like they normally do.

my wifes union is hoping they can work under the old contract because it has a state funded pay raise clause. three year contracts are a bitch.

Is that what the labor unions have been reduced to?

"As was laid out in the 2009 budget, the contracts would include furloughs for state workers, which amount to a 3% pay cut, and no pay raises," Winecke said in an e-mail.

During the early years of the 1930's economic depression public and private employees faced massive layoffs and those who remained on the job suffered wage and benefit cuts.

That went on for nearly five years!

Finally, the workers had suffered enough and organized labor unions to resist any more wage cuts.

Public and private industry workers not only resisted any further cuts they demanded significant wage increases, improved benefits and they won them during the worst of economic times.

Of course, government officials claimed they couldn't afford to improve public workers benefits because of "deficits" but they somehow found the money!

And private employers who also plead poverty, found the money!

If the current labor union officialdom proves incapable of leading and building effective organizations that can win these fights, either those conservative thinking officials will be replaced or new, bold, democratic and effective labor organizations will be organized to replace the old, tired and weak ones.