Tuesday, February 22, 2011


Protests Against GOP Plot to
Crush Unions Mount Nationwide

IN OHIO: Thousands Gather to Protest Bill

(Reuters) - Thousands of people picketed the state Capitol on Tuesday to protest a bill to cut collective bargaining rights for state workers.

In a local repeat of an issue that has roiled Wisconsin over the last two weeks, state Republican leaders say the bill is necessary to address the state's budget problems, while union leaders say it is designed to hurt unions.

"The intent is to give taxpayers a seat at the negotiating table," said Jason Mauk, spokesman for Ohio Senate Republicans.

Introduced in late January, the bill was scheduled for a state Senate Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Ohio's bill goes farther than Wisconsin's in some ways, Mauk said. While Wisconsin's bill allows collective bargaining on wages, up to the rate of inflation, for state workers, the Ohio bill prohibits collective bargaining for 42,000 state workers in addition to 19,500 workers in the state's university and college system.

This would end a right established in 1983 for Ohio's public-sector workers.

For local governments that bargain with unions representing some 300,000 workers including police, firefighters, and public school teachers, the bill removes health care and some other benefits from the negotiating process.

Like Wisconsin, Ohio has a new Republican governor and Republican majorities in both legislative houses.

"What's happening in Ohio is similar to what's happening in Wisconsin," said Joseph Slater, professor of law at the University of Toledo College of Law.

Slater said there is no correlation between whether a state gives collective bargaining rights to workers and whether they have a deficit. (Read rest of article)


IN WISCONSIN: A Summary

The Huffington Post's Lila Shapiro has put together a great report that summarizes the Wisconsin situation so far and highlights many of the issues involved:
MADISON, WI -- On Friday, February 11th, at the same hour that the world watched the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resign his post, the newly appointed Republican Governor of Wisconsin quietly launched a ferocious attack on public sector unions -- and the very notion of organized labor in America.

For nearly fifty years unions have sought to safeguard and advance their rights through a process known as collective bargaining, which is the the most powerful tool labor has for peacefully resolving disputes and ensuring workers a voice in negotiations on everything from fair wages to safety conditions and sick leave.

The bill championed by Wisconsin's governor takes dead aim at this process by stripping most state workers of many of their collective bargaining rights. Union leaders have responded uproariously, claiming that the bill effectively guts public unions of their most critical asset in a state that pioneered many of the fundamental fights for worker's rights. Political chaos has ensued on both sides. State Democrats fled the state last week to prevent a vote on the legislature, while many Republican governors -- some who already have similar bills on the table -- watch carefully to see, if the bill succeeds, how they might pass anti-union legislature in their own states. Read full story


IN INDIANA: Indiana Workers Protest Labor Bill

(WSJ) INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—The fight over limiting organizing and bargaining of public-sector workers spread from Wisconsin, where a week long battle remains unresolved, to Indianapolis Monday where thousands of steelworkers, auto workers and others surrounded the state capital to protest a right-to-work labor bill that passed a committee of the Republican-controlled House, prompting discussion of a walkout by Democrats.

The Indiana bill, which would change state law so that private-sector workers no longer are required to pay dues or belong to a union that bargains on their behalf, now goes to the full House, which would need two-thirds or 67 of the 100 House members present to vote.

Republicans hold a 60-40 lead in the Indiana House and need a two-thirds quorum to vote on legislation.

Democratic Rep. David L. Niezgodski said that leaving to stymie a quorum "is absolutely an option we have."

About 22 states, mostly across the South, have such laws. In Indiana currently, if a union bargains for a group of workers at an employer, all workers covered by the contract must belong to the union. Proponents of the bill say it would create jobs while opponents say it would drive down wages. The bill would exempt members of the construction industries, whose unions and management argued that the unions play a critical role in training and apprenticeships. (Read rest of article)


Related Article:
Protests Against Union-Busting Bill Sweep Midwest


B4B NOTE: The GOP plot to crush unions is but one segment of their overall diabolical scheme. They will also push for new laws allowing states to file bankruptcy which will disband union pay/benefit agreements, forcing workers to work for less pay. State bankruptcies will also force the layoffs of millions of teachers, police, fire and others nationwide. Also, pensions will be in jeopardy if state bankruptcies are allowed....another goal in their overall plot. The bottom line GOP goal is to force Americans to have to work....LITERALLY...for Chinese wages. They MUST BE STOPPED ! Lastly....ALL of this would have been avoided had my fellow whiny Dems just voted in the midterm elections.....but instead, they simply de-energized, handing over the power to the evil side. Still A Shame !!!

Next ?
The GOP's destruction of America's Public School Systems.

The Time Is NOW....
To UNITE....and FIGHT !!!!

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