Comments on: On Wisconsin

By: Hyperbolic rhetoric distorts Wisconsin facts « Education News Colorado Opinion & Commentary

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:53:28 +0000

[...] for the unions themselves, they aren’t winning political sympathies from staging sick-outs (“by all means, defend your right to collectively bargain an agreement that you can flout at yo…) or getting fake doctors’ notes to cover for [...]

By: Tweets that mention On Wisconsin | Intercepts -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention On Wisconsin | Intercepts -- Topsy.com — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:28:24 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Founder Fire, Nat'l Right to Work. Nat'l Right to Work said: On Wisconsin | Intercepts http://goo.gl/SDeOm [...]

By: Barb

Barb — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:02:42 +0000

It’s about time someone government employees get a taste of real life. They still have union representation, but not for salary increases. What about all the lousy teachers who cannot be fired because of tenure. They pay .02% toward their pension and he wants to up it to 5.0%. They pay 5.0% for health insurance and he wants to up it to 12%. They are whiners and crybabies. I pay 470.00 a month for health insurance as a retired employee of a private firm. I have had that amount deducted from pension, which means I make almost 500.00 less because of health care costs. Your boss has a right to evaluate you and determine how much you are paid in the private sector…why should government be any different. The government employees are so far removed from reality, and have been for so long, they don’t have a clue about the real world.

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 20:15:44 +0000

I understand the concerns with the sickout but you have to realize that this bill is being shoved through on short notice. There is no doubt that the speed at which Walker tried to pass this bill was part of his strategy. It’s hard to be upset with the teachers. BTW, my son stayed home today because his school was closed due to a sickout.
Also, all this “rights” talk is important because for many, they are realizing that collective bargaining may no longer be an option. They never really realized they had it or what it did for them and so to lose something makes them feel like they are losing a right. And don’t try to sweep the implications of this bill under the rug. WEAC just proposed a pay-for-performance plan based on test scores last week. They did so because they wanted to frame the inevitable. Walker’s bill strips them of the power to discuss these provisions. They are restricted heavily and so Walker can basically dictate how teachers are evaluated and how pay is structured. The bill also makes it illegal to take dues out of paychecks and makes unions vote every year on its status. In short, the whole thing is designed to destroy the unions. We all know exactly why he is doing this. He wants to have a hard-care pay-for-performance package that ends tenure and destroys caps on charter schools. The pay reductions are a smokescreen on all this.