This topic is locked from further discussion.
Some useful context to know is that the state was broke because Governor Walker came in and immediately enacted a round of big tax cuts. The budget was fine before that. And the unions agreed to every single one of the requested salary adjustments. The only thing they didn't agree to was losing their right to collective bargain. Link[QUOTE="nocoolnamejim"][QUOTE="Wasdie"]
Well the point was to keep their jobs at all costs. As I said before, unions in Milwaukee didn't accept it and didn't negotiate. 500 teachers lost their jobs and many other public employees. The whole goal was to keep jobs, even if it is at a slightly lower pay.
There was no way around it. The state was broke, and unlike the federal government, we can't just raise the debt ceiling. So it's a compromise, keep jobs at slightly lower pay or fire thousands because schools cannot afford them.
The idea was to keep jobs in Wisconsin at all costs. This means some sacrifices here and there while doing what we can to keep businesses intrested to keep the private sector going strong. Unlike the private sector, the public sector in Wisconsin hasn't been effected by the recession at all.
Wasdie
You do know the reason for the tax cut right? I'm hoping you don't think it was just so that the owners of the companies could give themselves more money.
The thing is with collective bargaining, any deal made right now could be pointless in a few months time. Sure they would agree for the wage cut now, but what was stopping them from using their powers to get it all back and put themselves back in charge of everything?
From my personal experience with unions and from what I've seen in my own county, you can't bargain with them. The only reason they said they would accept it was because of the collective bargaining was being threatened. That is it. Once that was gone, the union "representing" the county and state employees in my county did not want to renegotiate a deal and just picked up and left. They lost their power to bargain across the entire state, so they couldn't put enough pressure on the county.
Funny, now the county has money again and was able to shuffle around some of their work force to cut down costs. Something they couldn't do before.
The whole point of collective bargaining is to allow groups of people to bargain with more leverage and authority than they might otherwise have. That's the entire purpose to unionizing, to put a pressure in place to drive wages up. That is a GOOD thing in my opinion. It helps prevent things like this from happening.
Yes, if the economy improves, the unions might bargain for better wages and benefits. That's the entire point to BEING in a union is to have a greater ability to do that than any single individual would by themselves. 
The whole point of collective bargaining is to allow groups of people to bargain with more leverage and authority than they might otherwise have. That's the entire purpose to unionizing, to put a pressure in place to drive wages up. That is a GOOD thing in my opinion. It helps prevent things like this from happening.
Then why have teachers salaries not increased much in 20 years despite the rising cost of living?
Teachers say they aren't getting enough money. Why aren't the unions fighting for them?
Simple thing is that the unions had a death grip on public workers in Wisconsin. You either joined the union, or you didn't work there. That's not how unions are supposed to run. They sat on tons of money and power. Finally somebody said enough was enough and did something about it to allow the government to start saving money and making things more efficent.
Unions had a place years ago before laws protected workers. Now that laws protect the workers, unions add unneeded red tape. It's not like tomorrow wages will be cut. People won't work those jobs for low pay. Simple as that. A person with a 4 year degree isn't going to settle for 30k a year. Basic supply and demand is what keeps wages going today. Unions got in the way of that.
Log in to comment