Wisconsin Workers Feel the Bite of Walker Bill

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After trying to have children, but finding themselves unable, Madison, Wisconsin resident Chris Bering and his wife were hoping to adopt. But then Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker proposed a radical overhaul of public employee collective bargaining rights. Although the battle over the Walker proposal took place in the depths of winter, August 25th marked the first day that the payroll changes took effect for Wisconsin workers. The cutbacks will force public workers to change their daily spending habits and for many -- their vision of their future. As a public employee, Bering has estimated the family will see about a $400 decrease per month. The cuts mean that he and his wife are now unsure whether they can financially support a child and their dream of adoption may be put on hold.

Several Hundred Gather to Demand "Shared Sacrifice" from Corporations Too

A crowd gathered at the Wisconsin Capitol Thursday to object to the payroll reductions, which will impact some 300,000 state, municipal and school district workers. The new collective bargaining law requires public workers to contribute nearly six percent more for their pensions and more for health care as well. While the cuts hurt, they were not the worst aspects of the bill, which is why the union conceded on the pay cuts right away. Other provisions of the bill show that the Walker agenda was much more about busting unions than saving money.

The bill includes law changes that make it difficult for unions to exist, such as an annual recertification requirement which needs 51% of union members to vote to recertify. Union members, not union voters. Setting a certification standard of 51% of all members annually is setting an electoral standard that no American politician has ever met. This change has led unions like the Teachers Assistant Association (TAA), which played a huge role in the capitol protest, to decide that they would not fight to recertify, but would continue representing workers at the university as an uncertified union. They will not have the right to collective bargain for wages, but will advocate for their members in other ways.

Those gathered at the state Capitol Square called for an end to these attacks on working men and women. Many in the crowd would rather see an end to corporate welfare and in increase in tax on wealthy Wisconsin residents. As CMD recently reported major firms in Wisconsin pay nothing in state income tax. Chants of "how do you solve a deficit? tax tax tax the rich!" filled the air.

State Stops Withholding of Union Dues

The state will also no longer withhold union dues and send them to the union, which means unions will have to organize a new method to to re-sign all of their members and collect their dues. For Barb Peters, president of AFCSME Local 171 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, that means that her local chapter needs to re-sign some 1,600 members. "At the university we have over 70 buildings, three different shifts... can you imagine what a hassle this will be?"

The impact of this union busting measure is already being felt. Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), the statewide teachers union, announced this month it will lay off 40 percent of its employees in response to the financial burden of the new law. AFSME has not yet announced whether it will also need to make cuts.

Walker Actions Bite in More Ways Than One

For a final kick in the teeth, the Walker administration recently notified the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) that payroll deductions for union-sponsored dental insurance plans would also be eliminated. This new action put an end to a policy that cost the state nothing, but merely facilitated much needed dental coverage for thousands of union members. Walker gave little warning to AFSCME that this change would take place, sending the union scrambling to provide coverage for its members.

"This move was taken just to be vindictive," Peters said. "It doesn't help the state financially, it just makes things harder for working people."

Margaret Mead, a correctional sergeant with the Praire du Chien Corrections Institute calls the latest move Walker's "personal vendetta." Her husband needs extensive dental work, and now she has to move quickly to see if she can make sure her family is covered by dental insurance again.

Next steps for Wisconsin workers? Recall Walker signs, chants and T-shirts were common at Thursday's rally.