My neighbor to the north
I was raised mostly in Wisconsin (ages 4-18) and went to college in Madison (18-23). I am sure that I'll move back there someday. My grandmother, one of my aunts, and one of my cousins are all members of the teachers' union there. They are all dedicated, hardworking women who have a passion for what they do. All of them are solidly middle class by what I consider a traditional definition ($30-$40K a year), not the Sarah Palin one, where middle class means that you have $2 million in liquid assets.
My grandmother spends half her year in Florida and half her year in Wisconsin (she has to live in the latter at least six months a year to keep her health insurance from the teacher's union). She lives off a fixed income, mostly the pension that she and my grandfather earned as members of one of Wisconsin's teacher's unions. In 2007, the year she turned 80, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and then, a few months later, breast cancer. She had fully paid treatment in an outstanding cancer hospital near her home in Florida (and not far from my parents) and then, when her breast cancer was discovered, entered radiation in Wisconsin. She lives in a cottage on a lake in a rural part of northern Wisconsin where the nearest hospital is a solid 30 minutes away, and so she was able to have her chemo and radiation completed at one of the better hospitals in the state, located near my uncle, so she could have someone take care of her between sessions. She's going to be 84 in September.
She would not be as healthy as she is today if it were not for Wisconsin Education Association Council. Hell, not to engage in hyperbole, but she may not even be alive if it weren't for WEAC.
This bill isn't about asking public and state workers to pay their fair share; if it were, the Republicans in the state senate would have accepted the contract that 16 of the 19 public unions ratified back in December 2010, which included $107 million in concessions on pension and health benefits. It's about destroying WEAC and its brethren, piece by piece. This bill makes it impossible for them to bargain for anything but a limited amount of wages (under this proposal, 1.4 percent for the next biennium) and makes it difficult for a union to stay a union -- yearly votes to stay in existence, the inability to collect dues via payroll, and much more. Those proposals do nothing for taxpayers and save the state nothing. And yeah, sometimes unions act in bad faith or protect employees they shouldn't. But you know what? That doesn't mean you take away their rights to negotiate and represent their members.
When Scott Walker and Ron Johnson got elected, I started thinking about how the Dixie Chicks felt when W. became president. But this week, I am really, really proud to be a Badger. I wish I could be there, but I can't. And I am so grateful to the tens of thousands of peaceful protesters who have filled the Capitol and the Square every day this week to stand up for these rights.
My grandmother spends half her year in Florida and half her year in Wisconsin (she has to live in the latter at least six months a year to keep her health insurance from the teacher's union). She lives off a fixed income, mostly the pension that she and my grandfather earned as members of one of Wisconsin's teacher's unions. In 2007, the year she turned 80, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and then, a few months later, breast cancer. She had fully paid treatment in an outstanding cancer hospital near her home in Florida (and not far from my parents) and then, when her breast cancer was discovered, entered radiation in Wisconsin. She lives in a cottage on a lake in a rural part of northern Wisconsin where the nearest hospital is a solid 30 minutes away, and so she was able to have her chemo and radiation completed at one of the better hospitals in the state, located near my uncle, so she could have someone take care of her between sessions. She's going to be 84 in September.
She would not be as healthy as she is today if it were not for Wisconsin Education Association Council. Hell, not to engage in hyperbole, but she may not even be alive if it weren't for WEAC.
This bill isn't about asking public and state workers to pay their fair share; if it were, the Republicans in the state senate would have accepted the contract that 16 of the 19 public unions ratified back in December 2010, which included $107 million in concessions on pension and health benefits. It's about destroying WEAC and its brethren, piece by piece. This bill makes it impossible for them to bargain for anything but a limited amount of wages (under this proposal, 1.4 percent for the next biennium) and makes it difficult for a union to stay a union -- yearly votes to stay in existence, the inability to collect dues via payroll, and much more. Those proposals do nothing for taxpayers and save the state nothing. And yeah, sometimes unions act in bad faith or protect employees they shouldn't. But you know what? That doesn't mean you take away their rights to negotiate and represent their members.
When Scott Walker and Ron Johnson got elected, I started thinking about how the Dixie Chicks felt when W. became president. But this week, I am really, really proud to be a Badger. I wish I could be there, but I can't. And I am so grateful to the tens of thousands of peaceful protesters who have filled the Capitol and the Square every day this week to stand up for these rights.