Walker proposes union compromise in e-mails (UPDATE)

Comments

• Joe lunchbox says:

  Hallelujah, it Looks like a start, to bad Walker and Fritz went postal on Monday and poisoned the water again. It will take trust and credibility to move this forward something that the Walker Team is in short supply of after the David Koch phone call, outlandish easements to take the signs down and his ranting press conferences

  Posted on 03/08/11 at 6:05 pm
• Sarah says:

  I hope they don’t agree to allow people to opt out of being in the union. Once that happens the union is dismantled. I have a bad feeling about that…labor would soon be cheap again and factories would move back to the US. We’d once again have a huge lower class who work their butts off for little to nothing and no hope of getting out. College education would not be an option and the rich would continue to get richer at the expense of those living on nothing.

  Posted on 03/08/11 at 6:28 pm
• Irwin Fletcher says:

  Yep, allowing people to opt out of the union is an unnecessary freedom. (note: heavy sarcasm). If the union is such a great benefit, people will clamor to get in and be happy to pay the dues.

  You have a bad feeling about factories moving back to the United States? Oh, I get it, it’s better to have people living off a welfare State than actually having a job and earning a living. It makes financial sense for companies to pay a somewhat higher wage to keep production close to consumption. Companies would do that. Would they pay $75/hr in wages and benefits for semi skilled UAW workers? No. Would those workers still earn a respectable, living wage? Absolutely. There are plenty of non-union auto plants in the US doing just that.

  Posted on 03/09/11 at 8:42 am
• Irwin Fletcher says:

  Joe,

  Don’t get too excited. Walker simply showed the public that it is the Union backed Democrats that are playing games here. The public is tiring of this BS.

  I attended a public meeting of a number of school districts in our area to have the impact of the State budget and budget repair bill laid out. It was a very factual presentation and zero protesting. It was interesting that the questions posed by the Union Rep in the audience were not particularly well received (seen as baiting). Bottom line, the budget will impact the districts’ budgets by roughly 5.5%. 86% of the district’s budget is staff. It was clear for people to see that 5.5% cannot be taken entirely out of the 14% that pays for utilities, paper, pencils and the like. The bulk must come from staff. The pension contribution provision of the bill alone would account for the bulk of the savings needed to close the gap. What is proposed in the Budget Repair bill was show to work as advertised. Everyone understood and there was no “outrage” from the many staff members in attendence. I wish news outlets had been there to see what is really going on. The circus shown in Madison is not reality.

  The spin is out there that the unions have already agreed to the concessions. Not true. Many districts are quickly signing contracts with NO concessions. The vast majority of districts have not begun negotiating as they are waiting for the dust to settle. Ask Tom Barrett how well his negotiations are going to get concessions from Unions. Not so well eh? Without being compelled, Unions will not give an inch.

  Posted on 03/09/11 at 9:04 am