Palladian View on the Ground In Wisconsin for Walker Recall
State is ground zero in the latest political tug-of-war.
For the last two months much of the political universe has been focused on the state of Wisconsin. That’s where Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch are facing a recall election tomorrow.
Elected in 2010 and facing substantial budget shortfalls, Walker and Kleefisch immediately took an axe to the benefits of public employees, including their health plans and pensions. Since taking office in January 2011, Walker and Kleefisch have been at the center of the national discussion about government spending in sluggish economic times.
The state capital of Madison has seen a series of a mass protests by teachers and other public workers as Democrats set their sights on Walker, eventually getting enough signatures to force tomorrow’s recall election.
Since the recall election was announced, both Democrats and Republicans have poured millions into the state in an effort to save Walker and Kleefisch—or oust them with Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee and the man who Walker defeated in 2010.
Among those in Wisconsin are a group of staffers from Palladian View, the conservative women’s magazine founded by Karen Floyd. Manager Editor LaDonna Ryggs, Development Director Beverly Owensby and Social Media Coordinator Lauren Luxenburg have been criss-crossing The Dairy State and posting regularly on Twitter and Facebook.
Using the social media tool Storify, we’ve been able to follow their activities.
For a look at comprehensive coverage from the 16 Patch sites in Wisconsin click here.
Robert Kelly
9:48 am on Monday, June 4, 2012
There is no moral justification for dealing with budget shortfalls by simply telling the middle class workers who deliver the state services that they, and they alone, have no right to bargain collectively. These Paladians should be ashamed of themselves for traveling thousands of miles to support such anti-people policies. They seem to be having a grand time; I have no respect for that.
SDR
10:24 am on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
...and now a word from that extreme right-wing union busting president:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=15445#axzz1x1TwZWlM
stanley seigler
12:05 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
@Robert Kelly: "...anti-people policies..."
the palladians must be 1%-ers...surely no 99%-er would support policies that were against their self-interests...
i understand how good old boys could vote for GOP policies...but very difficult to understand how minorities and women can support policies that take away their hard earned, over decades, rights...
then no one said i should understand.
Mark Langford
2:29 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
State employees should never be given collective bargaining rights. Who but the taxpayer should sit across the table to resist the increases and benifits they want? Public unions are new to barganing, having appeared in the Carter years. At that time, public jobs paid less than private sector jobs, The benefits and security were (and still are stronger), but now public employees make twice the average of private ones.
reg
2:34 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
Public unions have been present since the mid-50s, actually - starting in NYC - and have engaged in collective bargaining throughout. Been in the fed gov since Kennedy. And public sector jobs still pay much, much less than private ones. BY FAR. Compare the staff who work for DMV and their salaries to folks who do same reception/processing for private companies.
stanley seigler
4:07 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
@Mark Langford: "State employees should never be given collective bargaining rights."
opine: irrelevant whether new or old. collective bargaining is or should be the right of all workers public or private...
public or private workers shouldn't be left to the whims of administrators, supervisors corrupted by a lil power...or;
perhaps one believes bosses are altruistic, christians who always do the right thing...ie/eg, provide fair wages and safe working conditions...
oh/and/btw state employees are taxpayers too...and where do T-GOPs come up with their facts: "public employees make twice the average of private ones"...
re teachers not true:
[clip] Private schools now pay very close to what public schools pay. http://privateschool.about.com/od/salaries/qt/salaries.htm
and would bet that public employees in similar positions do NOT make twice what private sector teamsters do...
in general private and public unions (collective bargaining) have raised the wages and improved working conditions for all...union and non union middle class and po folks...ie, old saw say: "a raising tide raises all ships"
SDR
4:30 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
Dont sweat these Leninists,ML, they are left of FDR, who was fully against unionizing the public trust. FDR knew that hooligans would strangle government for their own gain. There is no room in this economy for the deadweight at the top of public and private unions. The rank and file work too hard to carry the bureaucracy that is just rank.
The union boosters posting here know that unions are a primary source of Democrat funds and will tell any lie to keep the movement in place. They have a hammer and sickle tattooed on their backside.
stanley seigler
7:34 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
@SDR: "...FDR knew that hooligans would strangle government for their own gain...
FDR's position:
"...with a feeling of gratification that I [FDR] have noted in the constitution of the National Federation of Federal Employees [NFFE] the provision that 'under no circumstances shall this Federation engage in or support strikes against the United States Government.'" http://www.conservativeblog.org/amyridenour/2011/2/19/text-of-fdr-letter-opposing-public-employee-government-union.html
FDR opposed strikes against the fed...not collective bargaining...the same position as the union’s (NFFE)...assume it applies to state unions...
FYI
The right to collectively bargain is recognized through international human rights conventions. Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights identifies the ability to organize trade unions as a fundamental human right.
ohoh, i found out where T-GOPs come up with their facts: federal worker compensation averages $123,000; the state and local avg, $70,000; private-sector avg; $61,000...http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-08-10-1Afedpay10_ST_N.htm
but not sure the ‘avg’ means much...ie, comparison should be pay scale by job description...eg, private drs v fed/state drs...bet private practice docs make more than public sector docs...and workers that are represented by a public or private sector union.
all said not sure what difference it make whether public or private workers are paid more...
toymnatr
9:26 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
I agree teachers, police officers, fireman, and etc should be glad they have a job and take whatever is offered to them. How sick is that.
Robert Kelly
3:37 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
Mark Langford.... Your ignorance betrays your belief that state workers are not human beings doing an honest days work, paying taxes and making sure the government services work.
Philliph
5:49 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
It is no different than half of you thinking the 1%er's are out to get everybody, when people wake up and realize that the unions are no different than the 1%er's then you will understand. The amazing things about unions is that in the good times they want more and in the bad times they aren't willing to give up just a little. Many companies and states can not keep up production of the same wages as the 90's and are going broke because of pensions, but not one union employee is willing to sacrifice so in the end everyone suffers because when something can't be kept up it goes bankrupt or gets tossed to the side.
toymnatr
9:29 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
Kinda like the 1% that don't want to give up any tax breaks so the middle class can get a break.
stanley seigler
12:22 am on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
@Philliph: "... but not one union employee is willing to sacrifice..."
FACTCHK:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/18/sb5-concessions.html
[CLIPs] "Ohio’s public employees, many of them teachers, gave back nearly $1.1 billion in concessions since 2008, according to a report commissioned by police and fire unions"
"Jay McDonald, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, in a morning press conference called to release the report. McDonald said he’s personally given back $7,000 in concessions to the city of Marion...where he works as a police officer...this year." [end clips]
sigh...
this anecdotal...but there are numerous examples of union concessions...google for facts.
PS. the unions are a scapegoat for the failed T-GOP economic policies.
Robert Kelly
8:59 pm on Monday, June 4, 2012
Stanley, note that the numbers represent total compensation, not salary. It is true federal workers have a much better compensation package, including health insurance. It's not free; typically costs the employee around $450/month for a family plan, but it's a good plan. Of course, Teabaggers don't want people to have health coverage anyway. Federal workers also typically have higher educational levels and stay with the same employer for a longer time. These factors increase salary levels.
People like ML and SDR don't get it. Workers are people doing a job, a necessary job for society, and why shouldn't public sector workers be allowed to bargain collectively? Bargaining covers many things other than salary, like posting a schedule for rotating shift workers early enough that they can make plans for their private life, like specifying how a worker can work within the system to deal with unjust and capricious management or harassment. Why should public sector workers be denied basic respect and dignity? Having the right to bargain doesn't mean they will get everything they want, but it does mean they are treated like adults and like responsible contributors to society.
stanley seigler
1:39 am on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
@Robert Kelly: "...federal workers have a much better compensation package..."
probably...but as mentioned and to which you allude; difficult to compare 'averages'...need to compare wages (total compensation) for similar public/private sector jobs...
not sure which wages enter into the private sector avg...ie/eg, the pay scale for service workers, fast food workers, lower the private sector average...
seems the bottom line is: do we want cheap labor handling details of running our government, teaching our children, protecting our streets...
Robert Kelly
9:34 am on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Stanley, I agree with you, and especially about your points about comparing averages. I was a rotating shift federal employee for 30 years, before spending the last 12 as the supervisor for 35 employees. Only 5 of those employees had a base salary in excess of $100K, even though practically everyone I hired in those 12 years had a MS degree. My experience is that they were an incredibly dedicated and focused group of people with excellent education and on-the-job skill development, and when I hear these know-nothings complain about bloated government salaries and disparaging comments about the workforce it really gets to me.
On the state level, how much do people think we pay the Forestry Commission park rangers? How much are EMTs getting paid? How much are data entry people behind the scenes getting? Not as much as they deserve, but still voters would rather make them pay the price for bad management at the political level. SC taxes are not low, but they are not progressive either. Someone making $50K pays that same 7% rate as someone making $500K, except that the $500K person probably pays a lower rate to the federal government because much of it is in capital gains.
Citizens, voters, should not disrespect the lower income workers and deny them basic rights of collective bargaining and respect for what they do.