Wisconsin Democrats Holding Taxpayers And Voters Hostage To Unions
In case you haven’t been paying attention to what is going on in Wisconsin, here are a few of the main issues in the bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker that has Union leaders’ heads about to explode:
- Requires state employees to contribute 5.8% of salaries to their pensions (they only contribute .2% now) and at least 12.6% to their health care premiums (they only contribute 4.6% now).
- Collective bargaining would be ended for Public Employees on all matters, except for wages. However, wages cannot exceed the rate of inflation unless a referendum is approved.
- Unions are required to take annual votes to maintain certification and employers would be prohibited from collecting dues and members would not be required to pay dues.
- Contracts would be limited to one year and wages would be frozen until a new contract is settled.
The unions have already agreed to the increased contributions. What is at issue is the fact that Walker will essentially take away some union power. They will no longer have the power to collectively bargain for anything other than salary and Unions will no longer be allowed to force members to pay dues. If Walker continues to allow collective bargaining, the unions could eventually just bargain their way back to paying the pittance they pay for benefits. The real reason union leaders are truly upset is they will no longer have a guaranteed cash cow to spend on politicking and getting progressives elected or pushing their far left political agenda, which actually hurts Americans as well as their own union members.
And now… the rest of the story. …..
Harold
