Great Comment Deserves Its Own Post
I don't know who this commenter is, but it's worth a wider read:
- I am not a union member, nor is any member of my large family (I have five siblings and two adult children). But John, the guy that picks up my family's garbage, is a unionized public employee. The guy that plows our snow is a unionized public employee. The people that supply our clean water and sewer services are unionized public employees. The police officers and firefighters that protect us and our homes are unionized public employees. The teachers in my 15 year old's school, and the people that clean and maintain her school, are unionized public employees. The workers who maintain our county parks are unionized public employees. The people who maintain the city streets, and the county and state highways, are unionized public employees. The people who teach at our fine University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the academic, administrative, security and support staff, are unionized public employees. The men and women that drive the County buses through our neighborhood, providing public transportation (primarily) to the elderly, students, and the working poor, are unionized public employees. The nurse, doctors, admistrative and other support staff of our City of Milwaukee Health Service and our State of Wisconsin Health Service - those responsible for disease control, clean water and air, food safety in restaurants, etc. - are unionized public employees. Many, many of my neighbors are unionized public employees. The list goes on and on. So when Scotty Walker and his ilk attempt to unilaterally strip these people of their bargaining rights, and to decertify their unions, I take it very personally. It is nothing less than a cynical, mean spirited, political assault on the very people who help provide me, my family, and our entire community with a good quality of life by working for the common good, and I will not stand idly by and watch it happen. Walker and his vicious band of political thugs MUST be stopped. GoyitoMKE
4 comments:
I wonder if the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will have the guts to reprint this wise letter as an addendum to their stupid Walker groveling editorial they wrote.
And that right there is the core of our fiscal problems you are laughably arguing does not exist.
Yes, yes, yes! Unions have taken care of everything of we don't even think of - trash pickup, snowplowing - during a vacation to Amsterdam, all over the city were posters to vote for your favorite street cleaner. Can you imagine such visibility for public employees here?
Yes, a different form of government; one that appreciates everyone's contributions to the place they live.
Here, people think teacher tenure should be removed and the pupils should be the deciders. Nothing against the kids, but they're not the one even getting to make this happen. It's absurd.
Fire and police men and women let go in Camden NJ to save nothing. It's a very poor city and is going to be much more worse off with these layoffs.
After standing with my two youngest kids and 50,000 like-minded people at our state capitol building on a very cold and windy Friday, I returned home.
Later that afternoon I saw Scott Walker’s press conference on television. His continuation of the lies about Senate Bill 11 defy reason, and frankly they enraged me. In case you didn’t catch it, he also made the statement that he would not allow the protesters to drown out the debate, adding that his office had received more than 19,000 emails in support of the bill.
This morning I sent Mr. Walker yet another email OPPOSING his egregious and un-American assault on our friends’, family members’, and neighbors’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.
My comments to Mr. Walker follow. Feel free to use and modify any way that you see fit.
We need to FLOOD the governor’s office (govgeneral@wisconsin.gov) with the clear message that we will NOT be lied to nor have our intelligence insulted.
GoyitoMKE
(a Hopey-Changey, unabashed, unreformed, and unreconstructed McGovernite)
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Mr. Walker:
Your persistent claim that the egregious "Budget Repair" (Senate Bill 11) will leave collective bargaining intact is an outright lie, as evidenced by the OPENING PARAGRAPH of bill which contains the following language:
"This bill limits the right to collectively bargain for all employees who are not public safety employees (general employees) to the subject of base wages. In addition, unless a referendum authorizes a greater increase, any general employee who is part of a collective bargaining unit is limited to bargaining over a percentage of total base wages increase that is no greater than the percentage change in the consumer price index. This bill also prohibits municipal employers from collectively bargaining with municipal general employees in matters that are not permitted under MERA."
It is clear that you are a liar and not to be trusted.
The proposed bill is NOT about balancing the budget. It is ALL about union busting.
Your claims to the contrary are an insult to the people of this fine state.
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