Wisconsin Teacher's union may lose collective bargaining rights

[Skippy 82]

http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/21/wisconsin-senate-can-eliminate-collective-bargaining-for-teachers-—-even-without-democrats-who-fled/

Wisconsin’s Senate can move forward on many pieces of legislation — and could eliminate some or all collective bargaining rights for public sector workers — even without the 14 Democratic state senators who fled to Chicago.

Wisconsin’s Senate needs a quorum, or 20 senators, to proceed on any spending or fiscal business. There are only 19 Republican state senators, and because all the Democrats fled, the Senate can’t hold a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget. But a quorum isn’t needed for most non-spending legislation.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/21/wisconsin-senate-can-eliminate-collective-bargaining-for-teachers-%e2%80%94-even-without-democrats-who-fled/#ixzz1Edaz9LKK

For those of you who don't know, Wisconsin's democrats have fled to Chicago as opposed to voting on the budget, which puts limits on unions.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/wisconsin-legislature-at-standstill-as-democrats-flee-20110218

[Grandmaster Phoenix 26]

Hopefully this will go through, and other states will follow.

[Teto 2609]

So is the world really falling apart or have I just started paying attention to the news?

Also I just mentioned that here, which isn't really a huge deal

I don't think?

[Skippy 82]

There has been a lot going on worldwide the past month or so. It'll all calm down.

[Cirt 612]

Wait is this good or bad for the teachers, I mean it sounds bad and I don't want teachers to lose any rights/part of their salary because I am planning to be a teacher in like 5-6 years uhh

[Skippy 82]

Wait is this good or bad for the teachers, I mean it sounds bad and I don't want teachers to lose any rights/part of their salary because I am planning to be a teacher in like 5-6 years uhh

Well it depends on your views. The reason that the teachers are protesting is because the government(wisconsin) is going broke and they want teachers to up their contributions to retirement funds and healthcare. The union said no, and the teachers are striking. The governments original plan upped personal contribution to their own retirements and gave the teachers the option to opt out of the union, saving them the union dues, but not effecting salary or benefits. The unions do not like this, since the unions don't like it, the democrats don't like it, because unions generally go democrats. Therefore the democrats decided to abandon the state rather than lose a potential voting base.

All in all, the original deal from the government was perfectly reasonable, considering that the increases were going directly back into the teachers funding and healthcare (securing retirement and keeping healthcare premiums low). The union screwed themselves by saying no, and the democrats made it worse by running, now the teachers may lose all negotiation rights besides salary.

So I guess you could say that it's bad for teachers in Wisconsin, but it's the unions fault.

ETA: They found the senators in Rockford, Il. http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/116390569.html

[Grandmaster Phoenix 26]

Wait is this good or bad for the teachers, I mean it sounds bad and I don't want teachers to lose any rights/part of their salary because I am planning to be a teacher in like 5-6 years uhh

Cirt, teacher's unions have too much power as it is. In my district, there are multiple teachers with 70+% failure rates, while other teachers are passing nearly all of their students. There have been teachers so bad that they sat board members in their rooms, and they still have their jobs. Unions support mediocracy, and this is disasterous for students.

[Skippy 82]

UPDATE: Democratic senators still gone, Republicans pass a bill requiring any senator that is absent without leave for two or more consecutive days to pick up their checks on the house floor. It also cancels direct deposit for these senators, and stops all expense and Per Diem checks.

http://budget.wispolitics.com/2011/02/senate-gop-leaders-requiring-missing.html

Also, doctors are now handing out sick notes to protesting teachers, and the doctors are now falling under investigation.

[Grandmaster Phoenix 26]

UPDATE: Democratic senators still gone, Republicans pass a bill requiring any senator that is absent without leave for two or more consecutive days to pick up their checks on the house floor. It also cancels direct deposit for these senators, and stops all expense and Per Diem checks.

http://budget.wispolitics.com/2011/02/senate-gop-leaders-requiring-missing.html

Also, doctors are now handing out sick notes to protesting teachers, and the doctors are now falling under investigation.

Sounds like some doctors need to lose their liscenses.

[Skippy 82]

Well, looks like the republicans in Wisconsin found out how to play the system.

The democrats ran from the state because of the collective bargaining issue, but republicans have separated collective bargaining from the fiscal measures. Since it is no longer a fiscal item, it can be voted on without a quorum, and has passed in the senate.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_8747fa04-4a74-11e0-8e6b-001cc4c03286.html

Oh, and the state is fining the senators who ran $100/day that they are absent.

[randomfan 0]

And it looks like Wisconsin is now officially puppyed.

[Skippy 82]

In what world does that make them puppyed?

[randomfan 0]

In a world that values the quality of their education and does not have profit as their chief interest.

[Skippy 82]

In a world that values the quality of their education and does not have profit as their chief interest.

Hmm, last I checked, this measure was avoiding the route that fired a minimum of 1500 people(read: teachers). Also, this is not a huge sacrifice, it is a small increase in personal payment into their healthcare and retirement, which amounts to, for the highest paid people, an 8% pay cut. Last I looked, teachers in Wisconsin are among the most highly paid in the country, in a state with a low cost of living. This measure doesn't cut finding for materials, classrooms, schools, so on. If a teacher can't teach because they have to pay a little more into their health care and retirement, that isn't on the government, that is on the teachers themselves. Beside that, it isn't really a pay cut, they will get the money back through healthcare and a secured retirement.

How about we look into what happens if the budget doesn't get balanced, what happens if this weren't to have passed, and the state goes bankrupt? What happens when the state can not only not afford to provide things like textbooks, but not pay teachers who have retired their benefits? That is what will happen without reform, these teachers, instead of paying a bit more now, would likely have nothing when they go to retire.

How about realizing that this isn't about making money, it's about making sure that they state, and ALL the people in it, can survive. We, as states, and as a country, cannot keep this deficit spending up. Walker isn't getting a bigger paycheck this year if he screws with the teacher's union. Look at the economic troubles caused by government pensions in New Jersey, look at the economy in Illinois and California, it is what we are all headed for if we don't have a major change, we all are going to have to sacrifice, EVERYTHING is going to have to get cut, and as opposed to cutting things like money for books and classrooms, it is better to have things like this happen. Realize that we live in an imperfect world, and things are going to be hard, for everyone.

P.S.-Maybe if this was such an important measure, the democrats should have stayed and debated the bill on the house floor. If there was ever a blatant affront to our system of government, that was it.

P.P.S.-It also gives teachers the right to opt out of being part of the union, allowing them to keep the same salary, healthcare, and retirement packages, but allows teachers to negotiate salary individually, without union consent, and allows them to save their union dues.

[Fortissimo 2]

So it passed

And

I have no problem with this.