What really happened to Kenneth Gladney?

There’s been a good amount of caterwauling from some on the right about the beatdown SEIU “thugs” supposedly gave to Kenneth Gladney, an opponent of health care reform who attended a recent town hall meeting in St. Louis. Mr. Gladney was allegedly beaten so badly he ended up needing hospital…

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Opponents of health care reform make threats of violence

Labor unions, never a favorite of many on the right, have started receiving threats for their attempts to organize counter-demonstrations at town hall meetings that have been plagued by disruptions from opponents of health care reform. In fact, as noted by the Huffington Post, the SEIU received the following threat…

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Wisconsin pays two newspapers $81,500

Hmmmm… Madison — The state paid two newspapers more than $81,500 this week after improperly refusing to release the names of state employees. The payments – which could climb higher because they don’t include appeal costs – came as the Capital Times of Madison sued the state for delaying the…

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Unions and Beer and Jobs

Bottom Line: Who owns the job: the company or the worker? We don’t often think of it that way when we talk about those ‘evil’ corporations and company owners. We think of how unfair something is or we think of the burden on the employee because, naturally, most of us…

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Cuts will hurt state workers – and you too

That’s the opinion of Tom Giffey, editorial page editor for the Leader-Telegram: Those tempted to say “good riddance” at the thought of a shrinking state workforce should remember that these are not all faceless bureaucrats in Madison. These are people who investigate consumer complaints, issue driver’s licenses, monitor air and…

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Doyle orders furloughs of state employees

Earlier today, news broke that the state’s budget deficit – previously estimated at just over 5 billion dollars for the biennium – has exploded to up to $6.5 billion. In the wake of that news, Governor Jim Doyle announced his plans to close the new budget deficit with layoffs and…

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Don’t buy American; that’d be treason!

So says “Flashy” over at On the BorderLine: No red-blooded American can stoop so low as to purchase a UAW built automobile. It was stupid to do it before, it is treasonous to do it now. Now I understand many conservatives harbor a lot of hatred for labor unions and…

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AFSCME Lobby Day 2009

Alexis and I spent today in Madison at the Capitol, where we joined hundreds of fellow AFSCME brothers and sisters to speak to our legislators. The highlight of the day for Alexis was probably when she got to sit behind Rep. Mark Honadel’s desk, while the highlight for me was…

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How to improve MPS

Professor John McAdams has an easily solution for fixing all that ails Milwaukee Public Schools, while conveniently scapegoating teachers (and their union) in the process. In fact, McAdams says, “in large school districts, restrictive labor contracts have a very negative impact on academic achievement, particularly for minority students.” However, while…

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What Will Mark Do?

State Rep. Mark Honadel has some interesting decisions coming up. Real, Actual Legislative Bills are now being authored for the upcoming floor session. One of the 1st is The Labor History Bill. This bill requires that Labor History actually be taught in our state schools. This bill is expected to…

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