If you’re outraged/upset/concerned/whatever else about the assault on middle class families in Wisconsin thanks to Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget “repair” bill, there is something you can do.
You can call 1-877-753-5578 (toll free) to speak to your State Senator and ask them to oppose taking away the rights of teachers, nurses, snowplow drivers, correction officers, and all the other hard-working public servants of our state. You can call 1-877-753-5578 any time of the day, and when you call you will be asked to enter your zip code followed by the # sign. The system will then automatically identify your state senator and connect you to their office, and once connected you can leave a message for your State Senator expressing your feelings on Gov. Walker’s budget “repair” bill.
Call today and leave a message for your State Senator, or better yet call tomorrow and try to speak to someone from their staff to express your feelings on Gov. Walker’s assault on the middle class.
Please explain to me what “rights” are being taken away.
There is no money. Solving this problem hurts a little bit more now because no one dared to make a hard decision for at least the last 8 years. This won’t be the only or the last solution to the budget problems, so get ready. I have a feeling you will squawk again when it comes to reducing spending on programs. Have any better ideas?
This isn’t just about money; it’s about breaking the union’s back. If this were just about money, Gov. Walker could have proposed just taking health care and pensions off the table for negotiating, without taking away all other collective bargaining rights for unions, requiring unions to recertify every year, and not allowing unions to collect unions dues through the employer. Those provisions have nothing to do with repairing the budget, but they sure have a lot to do with breaking the unions.
The right to sit at a a table and be treated with a little respect. The right to collectively bargain was fought for, and many, many died for it. Look up the Molly McGuires and the Railway Strikes of the 1870’s if you think I am exaguarating. Unions dont want to be part of the problem, they want to sit and negotiate a deal. Walker wants to point guns at us if we dont accept being treated as he sees fit. By the way Gov Walker got extremely wealthy from a job his rich wife got him. A real man, huh.
Has Walker gone completly mad? If any Governor, of any state has to threaten to call out the National Guard on an unpopular bill he has petitioned , whats next? Declare Marshal Law! SMITTY62
@ “forgotmyscreenname” 100 million in concessions were made last year by state employees who had a negative contract with more contributions to health benefits and mandatory furloughs. In my opinion, they’ve already done their part for this budget crisis. Why do they have to carry the load? They’ve already sacrificed in 2010 to get the fiscal house in order? Why more? There is more than one way to tackle this issue. Cuts are coming whether we want them or not but careful cutting and spreading it out across different areas is a much better idea than focusing on the union busting antics of Gov. Walker.
State employees have in good faith, collectively bargained over the last 60 years. Last year they went in knowing the budget situation and that was represented in the negative contracts that were issued. This nothing but a power grab by Gov. Walker to pay back the corporations who funded his campaign. It’s a power grab pure and simple. He is using the backs of loyal, hardworking Wisconsinites to fix a budget situation they had NOTHING to do with in the first place. Labor is not the issue in this budget situation. It is mismanagement, terrible investments, and tax breaks that can’t be paid for. We are ready to do our part as Wisconsinites to fix things but we are not willing to SACRIFICE our right to organize, bargain, and unionize ourselves in order to do it!!! We have that right, it is a federal right and he is using his power as governor to strip that right down to a bare nothing with no power! Read the bill….it’s atrocious….
In responce to forgotmyscreenname I kind of agree that state workers should pay into their pensions and pay a little more for health coverage.That does not make it right to break the Union to do that.When all the good paying union jobs are gone, then everybody will need to pay higher taxes,If you make less, you pay less taxes, if you make more you pay more taxes Do The Math!
As a custodian who’s worked with-in the public school system for more than a decade, I can tell you that we need to keep the quality people we have right where they are. It has been suggested in some of the blogs I’ve read, that if this bill causes some of the better/more responsible teachers and/or custodians to leave the profession, other people will always be there to jump in and take up the slack. Well, that may be true as far as able bodied workers go, but our district learned a lesson a few years back about what happens when you fill positions with the lowest dollar workers available.
A contracted cleaning company was brought in on a three year trial basis at our brand new High School building. Because they didn’t have any real stake in the community, little preventive maintanence was done, and, to make matters worse, the first contracted cleaning/management company then sub-contracted the heavy cleaning out to second, even cheaper company, and over-all they let the place run down. After the trial period was over they were fired, and forced to repay the district for all the equipment/ tools that were damaged, stolen, or otherwise went missing. So did the district save any money? No, it took labor, (and pride), of the district’s own custodial team to get that building back to where it should have been all along.
The reason you want good, responsible custodians on the job is because we protect the students from exposure to asbestos, (especially in our older buildings) through safe work practices, and other, potentially serious health threats, for example, any time there is blood spilled…people could come into contact with it and have problems with Blood Borne Pathogens, which include HIV, AIDS, & Hepetitus, as well as the recent Swine flu epidemic. What I’m saying here is, if you take away some of the good caring people that decent wages provide, and plug just anyone into this spot, can you be sure they’re in it for more than just a paycheck & will be concientious enough to protect the health of our future generations?
Speaking as a custodian, all we are looking for is a living wage. I don’t think that’s too much to ask
Does Walker think he’s a second coming Reagan? We were WI residents for years and found the people to be hard working, not looking for any free rides, paying their fair share and then some. Generous to a fault. This governor goes to show, big time bucks play (have played) a big part in elections. Next time, go out and vote. Vote with good information, not any of that fear causing rhetoric espoused by the republican party.
Govenor Walker is “opening Wisconsin for business” and the middle class is going to pay for it. Years of outsourcing jobs to countries with no safety laws and benefits for employees has caused the middle class to disappear. How can we compete unless we become a third world country ourselves. Cheap goods equal a lower standard of living for U.S. citizens while corporations continue to profit through a recession. Wall Street has already recovered but the pain for the middle class is just beginning.