Citizens of the United States.
Citizens of Wisconsin.
I come before you today to discuss how I will reduce government spending and help deal with the an out of control deficit. To better serve the public interest and ensure the economic prosperity of our economy, I have decided to balance the budget by stripping away your first amendment rights.
Sound ridiculous?
Of course it does. What do your first amendment rights cost? What does stripping them away gain for the national or state budget? The answer is nothing. There is no direct connection between the expenditures of government and this particular right, and the entire statement feels like someone told you that they were going to mow the lawn by changing the water in their fish tank.
Scott Walker's budget for Wisconsin strips away the rights for State unions to bargain for anything except salary. In addition, salary 'negotiation' is rendered almost entirely dead. If any raise goes over the consumer price index, it would have to be approved by referendum. You know. Public vote. So basically what Scott's doing is taking away the union's ability to negotiate – entirely.
What, directly, does this have to do with saving Wisconsin money? Not a damn thing. Rights to bargain don't cost money. Removing them doesn't return any money to the state coffer. This isn't a program that requires funding, this is the ability for State workers to negotiate on equal terms with an employer who in many cases is their only employment option. Disagree? Okay, where is a Wisconsin licensed teacher going to seek 'alternative employment'? For the most part, nowhere. The only real alternative for them would be to give up their life, home, seniority and their career and leave the State. So held by what amounts to a monopoly on many jobs, how does the budget benefit by removing these employees ability to negotiate working conditions, benefits, as well as minimize salary options.
Well...
Ominously, this move is like a telegraphed punch; You can see where the violence is coming from in advance. Once locked-in workers are unable to collectively bargain, they are 100% at the mercy of the employer. They lose the ability to do the one thing unions are supposed to do: stand up as an equal bargaining power to an employment entity that otherwise holds all the cards. This, in turn, means Scott will be able to make massive changes to the terms and conditions of state employment without any opposition. Remember, folks Scott has both houses of the legislature in his party's control. If the unions cannot oppose what's done to them, the governor can effectively brutalize and minimize this work force, punishing them for the State's budgetary woes and to those unaffected - if there are any - appear to be doing right financially. After all, subsistence paid government workers save the State a lot of money.
Do you love a teacher?
Do you cherish a bus driver or custodian or officer worker at the DNR?
Do you drink with few DMV workers on weekends?
All of these people are being set up to be financially raped. You can perhaps turn a blind eye to it now because the budget makes no massively sweeping cuts to the salaries and benefits of State employees, though it does effectively result in an 8% pay cut to a group of employees currently being paid 12% below national average.
But that's not what's important.
What's important is that going forward these people will have NO VOICE in their working conditions, their benefits, or even really their pay. Think of it this way. Even the greeter at Walmart can go to Target or Costco or down the road to another retail outlet if things get bad enough at their job. The very FACT that this is possible encourages SOME retention effort by the employer. Employee turn-over is expensive.
Scott Walker is setting up our State workers for a brutal assault. Once the changes to negotiation are gone, he need never look to the public for support in shredding this work force again - there is no resistance left. He is about to take the most aggressive and ugly swing at the American worker that we have seen in the US in decades. If it succeeds here, this will spread. Don't let him do it. Tomorrow there are protests planned at the Capitol to voice outrage at this effort to blame the State's employees for the government's money woes.
This budget problem is ours, Wisconsin. If money is needed, let's all chip in and pay a little more. Let's not blame the people who clean our streets, teach our children, protect our homes, and guard our lives.
Citizens of Wisconsin.
I come before you today to discuss how I will reduce government spending and help deal with the an out of control deficit. To better serve the public interest and ensure the economic prosperity of our economy, I have decided to balance the budget by stripping away your first amendment rights.
Sound ridiculous?
Of course it does. What do your first amendment rights cost? What does stripping them away gain for the national or state budget? The answer is nothing. There is no direct connection between the expenditures of government and this particular right, and the entire statement feels like someone told you that they were going to mow the lawn by changing the water in their fish tank.
Scott Walker's budget for Wisconsin strips away the rights for State unions to bargain for anything except salary. In addition, salary 'negotiation' is rendered almost entirely dead. If any raise goes over the consumer price index, it would have to be approved by referendum. You know. Public vote. So basically what Scott's doing is taking away the union's ability to negotiate – entirely.
What, directly, does this have to do with saving Wisconsin money? Not a damn thing. Rights to bargain don't cost money. Removing them doesn't return any money to the state coffer. This isn't a program that requires funding, this is the ability for State workers to negotiate on equal terms with an employer who in many cases is their only employment option. Disagree? Okay, where is a Wisconsin licensed teacher going to seek 'alternative employment'? For the most part, nowhere. The only real alternative for them would be to give up their life, home, seniority and their career and leave the State. So held by what amounts to a monopoly on many jobs, how does the budget benefit by removing these employees ability to negotiate working conditions, benefits, as well as minimize salary options.
Well...
Ominously, this move is like a telegraphed punch; You can see where the violence is coming from in advance. Once locked-in workers are unable to collectively bargain, they are 100% at the mercy of the employer. They lose the ability to do the one thing unions are supposed to do: stand up as an equal bargaining power to an employment entity that otherwise holds all the cards. This, in turn, means Scott will be able to make massive changes to the terms and conditions of state employment without any opposition. Remember, folks Scott has both houses of the legislature in his party's control. If the unions cannot oppose what's done to them, the governor can effectively brutalize and minimize this work force, punishing them for the State's budgetary woes and to those unaffected - if there are any - appear to be doing right financially. After all, subsistence paid government workers save the State a lot of money.
Do you love a teacher?
Do you cherish a bus driver or custodian or officer worker at the DNR?
Do you drink with few DMV workers on weekends?
All of these people are being set up to be financially raped. You can perhaps turn a blind eye to it now because the budget makes no massively sweeping cuts to the salaries and benefits of State employees, though it does effectively result in an 8% pay cut to a group of employees currently being paid 12% below national average.
But that's not what's important.
What's important is that going forward these people will have NO VOICE in their working conditions, their benefits, or even really their pay. Think of it this way. Even the greeter at Walmart can go to Target or Costco or down the road to another retail outlet if things get bad enough at their job. The very FACT that this is possible encourages SOME retention effort by the employer. Employee turn-over is expensive.
Scott Walker is setting up our State workers for a brutal assault. Once the changes to negotiation are gone, he need never look to the public for support in shredding this work force again - there is no resistance left. He is about to take the most aggressive and ugly swing at the American worker that we have seen in the US in decades. If it succeeds here, this will spread. Don't let him do it. Tomorrow there are protests planned at the Capitol to voice outrage at this effort to blame the State's employees for the government's money woes.
This budget problem is ours, Wisconsin. If money is needed, let's all chip in and pay a little more. Let's not blame the people who clean our streets, teach our children, protect our homes, and guard our lives.
I wrote to my representatives today. I have never done so before in my life.
ReplyDeleteThere are protests and vigils planned for the capitol this evening. Both my wife and I will be attending.
ReplyDelete