Monday, April 29, 2013
Documentary "Citizen Koch" and book by Journal Sentinel reporters have differing takes on 2011 battle between unions and Gov. Scott Walker.
As the dust settles on the epic battles over union rights for public workers in Wisconsin, two new major works aim to put these events into perspective. The first is “Citizen Koch,” a documentary by award-winning filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin. It aired at the Sundance Film Festival in January and the Wisconsin Film Festival this month. The second is “More Than They Bargained For,” a book by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Both recount how newly elected Gov. Scott Walker in February 2011 “dropped the bomb” (his words) regarding his plan to largely end the collective bargaining rights of most state and local public employees. “Citizen Koch” frames …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A lawsuit filed by unions representing Madison teachers and city of Milwaukee employees over the state's collective bargaining law may be headed to the State Supreme Court.
A state appeals court is urging the Wisconsin State Supreme Court to take on an Act 10 lawsuit filed by two unions, which challenged the constitutionality of the collective bargaining limitations Gov. Scot Walker imposed on almost all public unions in 2010. The Supreme Court could take the case without waiting for an Appeals Court decision, but whether is does so is at the high court's discretion. If the Supreme Court doesn’t take the case, then the Appeals Court would need to take it. A certification filed by a panel of three judges from the 4th District Court of Appeals, asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case because “a number of public unions have filed suits against municipalities over Act 10 provisions, which have left …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen had asked appeals court to stay a rule by a Dane County judge that said parts of the collective-bargaining law are unconstitutional.
A Wisconsin appeals court Tuesday refused to put a hold on a judge's decision repealing major parts of Act 10, the law that ended collective bargaining for most public workers. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in September had asked the 4th District Court of Appeals to stay the ruling by Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas that portions of the law were unconsitutional. Van Hollen wanted to stay the decision while the case was being appealed. Colas refused in October to do so, and the state appeals court on Tuesday upheld that decision, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The appeals court said it saw "no basis to set aside the circuit court's decision that a stay was not warranted," the State Journal reported. Today’s ruling likely …
Friday, January 18, 2013
Act 10, which essentially stripped public unions of their ability to bargain, was ruled constitutional on Friday in a federal appeals court.
The controversial state law that curtails collective bargaining for most public employees was upheld by a federal appeals court Friday. In ruling that Act 10 is constitutional, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said the state had a rational reason for rolling back collective bargaining rights, and rejected arguments from public employees unions that they violated First Amendment rights, WisPolitics.com reported. The court overturned a decision by a federal judge last year that struck down parts of the law dealing with prohibitions on government employers withholding union dues from workers' payrolls and a section requiring labor unions to vote to re-certify yearly, the Journal Sentinel reported. A separate case challenging the law remains …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
But district is offering just half-percent raises as School Board attorney says negotiations are limited to base wages under the state's new collective bargaining law.
While School District of Waukesha officials are offering the teachers union a 0.5 percent base wage increase, the union is asking for a 1.64 percent salary increase for the 2011-12 school year. An agreement has not yet been reached as the initial proposal from the union was delivered to the School Board on Tuesday. The salary increase is based on the cost of living increase from the 2010-11 school year, said Cathy Atkinson, president of the Education Association of Waukesha. But the district won’t be able to negotiate under the union’s proposal, said Gary Ruesch, the attorney for the School Board, because the district can only negotiate for base wages under Act 10’s collective bargaining rules. Because salaries can include supplemental pay…
Monday, November 12, 2012
New report says the Waukesha School District has seen a big reduction in pension and health care costs because of changes in state's collective bargaining law.
The controversial state law that eliminated most collective bargaining rights for school employees reduced benefit costs for the Waukesha School District by $4.8 million last school year, according to a report released Monday. The bulk of the savings came from reductions in the district's share of employee retirement costs, the report by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance said. In the 2010-11 school year, Waukesha paid about $5 million toward pension costs for workers; in 2011-12, that dropped to about $962,000, the report said. The district also saved about $729,000 in health insurance costs, according to the report, which was based on data that public school districts provide to the state Department of Public Instruction. In 2010-11, …
Sunday, September 30, 2012
There's a strong and growing sentiment to restrain government spending, but is public safety an area that would be an exception?
Holding the line on government spending is a mantra that propelled Scott Walker to a victory — and subsequent title defense — in the Wisconsin governor’s race. His much-debated Act 10 exempted police and firefighters from the financial squeeze, but it doesn’t mean police — and the communities they serve — aren’t feeling the pinch in other ways. The FBI recommends 2 officers for every 1,000 residents in a community. According to 2009 data, Milwaukee had twice that number, with 2,403 officers for just more than 600,000 residents. Other communities varied widely, with some at the threshold and Caledonia an example of a community well under. While every community is different, would you be willing to consider a property tax increase to beef up…
Monday, September 24, 2012
Union wants to review school district's financial figures before submitting its wage increase proposal.
The Waukesha School District is prepared to offer its teachers a 0.5 percent wage increase for the 2011-12 school year, but the union is not yet prepared to give a wage proposal as it moves forward with negotiations. The wage increases, if accepted by the union, would be paid to the teachers retroactively. After the 2011-12 contract is settled, school officials can begin work on the 2012-13 teaching contracts. The settling of the past school year’s contracts were delayed because of changes in the state’s Act 10 collective bargaining law that limits public unions from negotiations except for wages. The school district’s last contract expired in June 2011. Teachers had wages frozen for the 2009-10 school year and received a 1 percent wage …
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Gov. Scott Walker talks about the Dane County judge's ruling on the state's collective bargaining law during this week's radio address.
The state partnered with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to produce and distribute brief radio address once a week. Audio files and a written transcript of this radio address can be accessed on http://www.wi-broadcasters.org and http://walker.wi.gov/Weekly-Radio-Addresses. To download an mp3 file, you can right click the radio address link and click “save link as.” Hi, this is Scott Walker. As you may have heard, recently, a Dane County judge in Madison issued a ruling that struck down key provisions of the budget reforms enacted late last year. We are confident this ruling will be overturned because Act 10 is constitutional. This would not be the first time a Dane County judge's decision on Act 10 was held to be wrong by a …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
To avoid confusion on whether or not Act 10 is in effect, J.B. Van Hollen is asking the court for a stay while the case is being appealed.
As expected, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen Tuesday filed a motion to stay the latest decision about Act 10, the collective bargaining law. Last Friday, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas ruled that parts of Act 10 are unconstitutional because the law violates the guarantee of freedom of speech and citizens' freedom of association. Colas also determined that Act 10 does not offer equal protection under the law because it creates a separate class of state workers. In his motion to the Dane County Circuit Court, Van Hollen outlines his belief that the decision will be overturned on appeal. Until the appellate court rules, Van Hollen believes a stay is appropriate to avoid any confusion for municipalities and school districts that …
Walker
10:33 am on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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