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 …
Monday, November 12, 2012
New report says the Greendale School District has seen a big reduction in pension and health care costs because of changes in state's collective bargaining law.
Editor's note: The story has been updated to reflect a correction in regards to the amount paid in 2011-12. The controversial state law that eliminated most collective bargaining rights for school employees reduced benefit costs for the Greendale School District by about $1.2 million last school year, according to a report released Monday. However, Greendale school officials say it's more than that. According to Business Manager Erin Green, the actual number is closer to $1.8 million. 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, Greendale paid $878,617 toward pension costs for workers. In 2011-12, about $…
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 …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Despite all the furor in Madison last year over the rights of public workers, new poll says Democrats are most concerned about jobs as they head to the polls in Tuesday's recall primary election.
When tens of thousands of demonstrators descended on the Wisconsin Capitol in February and March 2011, the protests were all about Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill and how it changed collective bargaining for public employees. In fact, it was the outrage over the passage of that bill — known as Act 10 when it became law — that was the impetus for the effort to recall Walker from office. But with the Democratic primary election less than a week away, and the general recall election slated for June 5, the issue of collective bargaining has pretty much taken a back seat to jobs and other issues, according to a poll released Wednesday. The Marquette University Law School Poll says 46 percent of those who are likely to vote in Tuesday's …
Monday, April 23, 2012
State Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, praises changes in state law after Gov. Scott Walker announces the savings from collective bargaining limits for the public sector. He says Greendale has saved over $900,000.
A state lawmaker from Greendale is praising Gov. Scott Walker’s announcement that the state’s controversial budget repair law that significantly limited public unions in collective bargaining has reached $1 billion in savings. "I think it's good news for tax payers that the changes that were made had a positive impact for school districts at a local level," said Greendale State Rep. Jeff Stone. Stone said he has seen a positive impact in Greendale with about $900,000 in savings to taxpayers with contributions necessary to pensions. "It’s been a way to maintain the quality of staffing at a local level and reduce costs to taxpayers," Stone said. "When you look at this area that’s substantial savings." The $1 billion in tax savings was made …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Milwaukee mayor and gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett welcomed another endorsement, from U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, in his campaign to unseat Gov. Scott Walker. In other news, see details on the latest poll on the Democratic primary.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett picked up another endorsement Monday, from U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee), in his push to grab the Democratic nod and unseat Gov. Scott Walker in June's recall election. Voters are a little more than three weeks away from tapping Walker's Democratic challenger, and Barrett was on the campaign trail in Milwaukee touting how his administration would end Wisconsin's political civil war and restore collective bargaining and tax fairness, while fielding the endorsement from Moore. Barrett will square off against former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) and Secretary of State Doug La Follette in a Democratic primary May 8. The winner will take on Walker on June 5. Barrett …
Friday, June 10, 2011
Rep. Chris Kapegna, R-Delafield, says people are frustrated that public safety workers are exempt from the state's collective-bargaining changes.
A Republicans legislator wishes Gov. Scott Walker's plan to strip public employees of their collective-bargaining rights would have included police officers and firefighters, according to reports published today. Rep. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, told the Associated Press that police and fire workers "bought" an exemption to Walker's proposal, which affects tens of thousands of public employees in the state. Kapenga told the Wisconsin State Journal: There’s a reason why they are not being put in with the rest of the public employee unions. I don’t know what that reason is.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi struck down the state Legislature's budget repair bill which eliminated most collective bargaining for most public workers.
A Dane County judge today struck down the controversial budget repair bill that eliminated most collective bargaining for most public employees. Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi released a 33-page decision Thursday nullifying Act 10, which prompted thousands of protestors to crowd the state Capitol for weeks. But the decision, posted on The Wheeler Report, will not end the litigation. The state Supreme Court has been asked to consider the case, and state legislators are preparing to re-insert the collective bargaining changes in the state's 2011-13 budget. At least one legislator — Independent Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer of Manitowoc — is trying to add police, fire and other public safety workers to the collective bargaining changes. They …
Fred Fischer
8:59 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Lots of emotions here. I would think there's more of an advantage to not collectively bargain. That way the best producers will be rewarded adequately and not be dragged down by the weak and/or lazy. Also, I don't think anyone should be forced to join a union. more ›