Act
10- Fact and Fiction. . .
Thursday
was a dark day for Wisconsin, all of Wisconsin. On Thursday the Wisconsin Supreme Court
finally handed down its decision regarding Act 10’s Constitutionality along
with a ruling on Voter ID and other decisions.
There are those who will cheer their decision and continue to trumpet
their praise for Governor Walker and his supposed courage in the face of
opposition from “Big Unions” and the “Radical Left.” They will point to the savings for taxpayers
and the restoration of “balance” between employees and employers in the public
sector and claim that Wisconsin
is now on the right path towards success.
MADISON,
Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme
Court has upheld the 2011 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for
most public workers, sparked massive protests and led to Republican...
politico.com|By Associated Press
Yet,
there is a different, and much more sinister aspect to Act 10 and the debate
that it has spawned in Wisconsin,
and around the nation. It is important
that we begin to look at what Act 10 really was designed to do and what it
means to our state as we move forward into a “Post Act 10 World.” Over the next few months, as we prepare for
what will be a heated and hotly contested November election, there will be a
lot of rhetoric about standing with or for someone/something. Those who stand with our current governor
should take a close look at what his signature act is and isn’t.
It
is incredibly divisive. Read the message
boards after any article involving public employees, Act 10 or unions and
cringe at the hateful comments coming from all sides. They are filled with anger and
bitterness. Act 10 and the official
dialog around it have opened the floodgates and made it acceptable to vilify
public educators and public employees.
While some will try and disguise their distrust and disgust of the
employees themselves by aiming comments at the unions, the underlying message
is clear, public employees are lesser citizens and certainly not of much value
to our society.
This
negative dialog does several harmful things.
It creates a climate where political and economic payback become the
norm. Instead of governing for the
improvement and benefit of all citizens we become engaged in a cycle of never
ending retribution and conflict. This
leads to radical swings in politics, elimination of compromise and dialog and
gridlock that causes harm to all of us.
It also divides our society and creates opposing camps that can no
longer work together. Any society that
is successful and sustainable will have conflict, but that conflict will be
directed towards improving conditions for all.
Act 10 is simply a direct attack on a single group of people. No community can enjoy long term success when
it is acceptable to tear down one group and seek to eliminate their ability to
influence their social, political and economic situation. A hateful society will not prosper, and Act
10 is all about seeing public employees “get theirs.”
It
isn’t really about money or long term financial security for our state. Remember in 2011 when the public sector
unions agreed to the financial terms imposed by Act 10? That willingness to compromise was ignored by
the Republicans in power and Act 10 was forced into law in its entirety. Governor Walker may claim that his
legislation has saved money, but it is difficult to ignore his statements to
Congress that contradict this assertion.
With any large system there is some waste and some inefficiency. The claim that eliminating unions and
collective bargaining will somehow resolve this is either incredibly naïve, or
disingenuous.
It
isn’t about freedom or Conservative values.
The claim is often made that Act 10, and any potential Right to Work
legislation, is about freedom in the marketplace for employees. Just ask any employee in an industry like
retail or food service how much freedom they enjoy. Eliminating the power of workers to organize
creates an imbalance of power, especially in a time when many are struggling to
make ends meet and find quality, family supporting jobs. Employees, especially larger ones, hold
significant advantages in the market, and Act 10 is another step towards
cementing these advantages in place.
The
Conservative message of smaller, less invasive government, is contradicted by
Act 10. A less invasive government
doesn’t mandate the types of groups and interactions that citizens can
have. We don’t need much more evidence
that the Walker
administration isn’t really about limited government than the quotes from
Attorney General Van Hollen during the debate about Act 10 in front of the
Supreme Court. When Justice Ann Walsh
Bradley asked if the parties’ differing views about the right to free
association was like two ships passing, Van Hollen’s response was, “I don’t believe we are two ships passing. We are
two ships that collided. The state has a bigger ship and we will win.”
Act
10 sets the stage for even more extensive anti-labor legislation. Public employees were one of the last
strongholds for organized labor in Wisconsin,
and eliminating the power of public employees to organize weakens the ability
of labor to defend itself. This reality
shows us that Act 10 was more about a political takeover and paying off large
corporate donors than about the health and well-being of Wisconsin’s economy.
MADISON--Now
that the legal challenges to Act 10 have run their course, many are wondering
if the other shoe about to drop be for police and firefighters.<br
/>"Wherever I travel throughout the state and interact...
cbs58.com
Supporters of Act 10 will
claim that it restores balance to our public education system and gives the
power to the families and students. In
some ways this aspect of the debate has little to do with Act 10 itself, and
more to do with the ongoing efforts to discredit public educators and our
public education system. Many people
have difficulty separating the financial aspects of collective bargaining from
the other things that unions negotiate for their members. Once again, the financial aspects of our
public sector that Act 10 supposedly addresses are only a small piece of the
puzzle, and one that is relatively easily dealt with. The real difficulties that we face in our
educational systems are the ongoing struggles in addressing inequities and
Achievement Gaps. Silencing educators
and eliminating their ability to speak out on important issues doesn’t close
any Gaps or help any students.
Disagreement and debate is healthy, especially when answers are not easy
and/or obvious. If the positions taken
by education “reformers” were as strong as they claim, why won’t they engage in
real debate and instead hide behind political power and strong-arm
tactics.
milwaukeemag.com
You may agree, or disagree
with these arguments, but the reality is that Act 10 is now the law of the
land. This means that public employees
and supporters of public education must now turn their attention and hopes to
other venues. The most obvious is the
political arena. This is a difficult one
for many of us because the simple fact of the matter is that the Democrats
haven’t done much to support public schools or organized labor in recent days. However, it is obvious that the current
Republican platform is so anti-education and anti-labor that there is no real
alternative. What must happen is that
Progressive voices must begin to control the discussion and move our society in
a more socially just direction.
The end of an uneasy truce.
This movement away from
divisive rhetoric, bumper sticker politics and knee-jerk responses doesn’t
happen at a large scale level. Our
current state of affairs doesn’t have much room for rational and reasoned
debate in large, public forums. Instead,
we must focus on the individual and small group level. Talking to our neighbors, friends and family
about these important issues, organizing like- minded people and empowering
them to act and speak about their values and beliefs, and other similar actions
can build a true grass-roots movement that will restore balance to our
society.
History is filled with
examples of everyday citizens rising up to make a positive difference in the
world. These past few years have
provided Wisconsinites with the opportunity to be beacons of hope for current a
future generations. Thursday’s ruling
was a setback and a defeat, but it doesn't have to be a decisive one. The choice about what happens next is up to
each one of us.
The
Good, The Bad and
The
Ugly. . .
The Good . . . Corporations that work hard to avoid paying taxes should not get tax
breaks.
The president asked Congress to remove the tax advantages of
inversion, in...
nytimes.com|By Michael D. Shear
The Bad . . . Detaching from MMSD is one issue, but a middle class neighborhood
seeking to detach while leaving a neighborhood of poverty out of the process
doesn't seem equitable or reasonable.
A group of her neighbors is going door-to-door with
information about the district detachment process.
The Ugly . . . Just in time to try and confuse voters for the August primary and
November election.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld a requirement that
voters show photo identification at the polls
wisn.com|By WISN
Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said he is
looking at all options to get a federal court ruling put on hold, so
Wisconsin’s photo ID requirement can be in place for the November election.
kenoshanews.com
