What's Up in Wisconsin?

**For some reason this posting was lost in cyberspace for months and suddenly appeared on my blog.  I decided to publish it anyway.  If you click on the photo of the Wisconsin protests on the sidebar it will take you to a bunch of photos of the protests in the spring.

For those of you not living in Wisconsin and perhaps particularly Madison where much of the hoopla is happening -- although, not exclusively, there have been several large and small communities hosting their own protests and rallies around the budget repair bill -- I thought I would post some information.

What is all the fuss about?
Read the Budget Repair Bill -- if you read the introductory section before the bill you will get a good overview of the technical details within it.

Is this about balancing the budget or busting unions?
Governor Walker claims this is about balancing the budget not busting unions.  But if that were true why was Gov. Walker unwilling to accept the compromise proposed by Sen. Schultz (R-Richland Center), which would  suspend collective bargaining for two years while balancing the budget and then letting it automatically reinstate?  The increase in pension and health care contributions would have remained permanent under this compromise.

In addition the following provisions of the bill affecting unions have no fiscal impact BUT play significant roles in the future strength of unions:
1.  Requirement that unions be certified every year -- Under current law once a union is certified (meaning it was voted into power by those whom it represents) it remains certified until a petition signed by approximately one-third of those represented called for an election to "decertify" the union.

2.  Requirement that union receive 51% of ALL eligible collective bargain unit members -- This means that any person eligible to vote in a union certification election who would abstain/not participate would be automatically counted as a "no" vote (significant change from current law).  Under current law an employee has to vote in the election to be counted.

3.  Abolishment of union dues being deducted from payroll checks -- Under current law union dues are allowed to be deducted from payroll making collection of union dues more efficient and consistent.  If payroll deductions are no longer allowed, the unions will have a more difficult time collecting the dues which fund their collective bargaining activities.

4.  Abolishment of requirement that all collective bargaining unit members pay their "fair share" of union dues -- Current law requires everyone who works where a union represents them pay the portion of union dues that covers the collective bargaining activities of the union.  No one is required to be a member of the union, just pay for these collective bargaining actions.  Anyone who is a full voting member of the union pays significantly more for events and lobbying activities.

But isn't the problem that public employees get paid too much?
The Economic Policy Institute did a study last year that speaks to public v. private employment compensation.  Now that this issue has hit the media they have done state specific studies on Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey and California.  You can find them all at the above link.

Important Note:  Wisconsin's public employees are not refusing to increase their contributions to pension funds and health care coverage.  What they are protesting is Gov. Walker extinguishing their collective bargaining rights.  They want Gov. Walker to meet them at the bargaining table.

Aren't unions a thing of the past?
We can thank unions for the 40-hour work week, the 8-hour day, minimum wage, worker safety laws, etc.  But now that there are federal laws about most of these things, aren't unions obsolete?  Unions act as the representatives of employees at the bargaining table with management.  They bargain about wages, health coverage, pensions...AND overtime, sick days (paid or unpaid), vacation, worker safety, role of seniority in promotion and work force reductions and perhaps most importantly with resolving workplace issues.

Hundreds of local government leaders oppose the budget repair bill because they believe collective bargaining is part of the solution in solving workplace problems.  Mayors and school district supervisors do not want collective bargaining to be stripped from their employees.  They argue that collective bargaining does not have any fiscal implications and these rights should remain in tact.

Well, what exactly is collective bargaining?
Collective bargaining rights bring management and employees (represented by unions) together to negotiate or bargain for compensation, benefits and working conditions.  Both parties are expected to come to the bargaining table in good faith with the intention to work out an agreement.  However, NO ONE is required to accept or offer anything.  Collective bargaining places no fiscal responsibilities on either the employer or the employees (represented by the unions).  It forces a conversation when it would otherwise be easier to avoid the conversation but it places no demands on what is discussed or the end result.