I found myself caught off guard a bit by all this..... I had heard several groups of professors talking about signing petitions and protesting through the week, but I only learned more about it on Thursday as our professor took some time to explain the issue. (perhaps with some personal bias?) Either way I am doing some personal research to try and get an -objective- grasp on what's actually going on.
The issue arises from the Wisconsin deficit, which is currently at 3.6 billion dollars.
The changes made by this bill would decrease spending by 300 million dollars over a period of two years, or less than 10%.
Unions still could represent workers, but they could not force employees to pay dues, and would have to re-organize yearly. Only wages below the Consumer Price Index would be subject to collective bargaining, anything higher would have to be approved by referendum.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...s-fired-budget-deal-wisconsin-governor-warns/
So reading directly from the bill here,
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/JR1SB-11.pdf.
Under Current Law municipal employees have the right to collectively bargain over wages, hours, and conditions of employment under the MERA and have the right to collectively bargain over wages, hours and conditions of employment under the State Employment Labor Relations Act (SELRA).
The bill limits the right to collectively bargain for all other public employees to the subject of base wages, along with limiting any collective bargaining unit to bargaining over a percentage of total base wages increase that is no greater than the percentage chance in the consumer price index.
It also prohibits municipal employers from collectively bargaining with municipal general employees in matters that are not permitted under MERA.
The bill limits collective bargaining to one year, and does not allow extensions.
Under the current law, UW System employees and emplyees of the UW hospitals and clinics authority, and certain home care and child care providers have the right the collectively bargain over wages, hours, and conditions of employment.
and quoted directly from the bill with no omissions, it states:
"This bill eliminates the rights of these employees to collectively bargain."
Please correct me if anything what I have put above is incorrect.
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So this bill will:
Increase the amount that the effected groups will have to pay for insurance and pensions, considerably.
Will remove their -right- to collectively bargain, along with imposing limits on the bargaining that's allowed and just in generally making it more difficult for them.
I personally hold teachers in the highest regard, at any level, and throughout highschool and college have spoken with my teachers and professors pretty freely. They are not upper class citizens, they have the same problems and financial issues as anyone else. While the increased amount they would have to pay is significant, it is eclipsed by that statement.
Now, with the majority of this post being a search for verification, it should be known that I do not have the best grasp on the topic at hand. That being said:
"This bill eliminates the rights of these employees to collectively bargain."
This is our enemy, this is any American citizens enemy. The concept that any bill can eliminate a right is absurd, and something the "Right to Carry" group knows personally and should stand up against. I am reading a lot of what people here are posting, and am kind of disappointed in what appears to be people walking a party line in the hopes of seeing the right to carry rights fixed, at the expense of a different groups rights.