Wisconsin union crackdown signed into law

[Guest guest]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/11/wisconsin.html

Wisconsin union crackdown signed into law

CBC News Posted: Mar 11, 2011 11:25 AM ET Last Updated: Mar 11, 2011 11:37 AM ET

Read

Wisconsin Governor signed a bill into law Friday that takes away

the collective bargaining rights of state employees.

The Republican politician signed the bill privately Friday morning, after the

state assembly passed the bill by a vote of 53 to 42 on Thursday afternoon. That

vote followed more than three weeks of protests that drew tens of thousands of

people to the cash-strapped state's legislative building in opposition.

Wisconsin's Senate had earlier cleared the way for passage with a surprise move

Wednesday that allowed them to vote on the bill without 14 Democratic senators

present.

" The unions exist to promote mediocrity, " said Republican Senate Speaker Ron

Ramsey. " They don't exist to promote excellence. They exist to promote the

lowest common denominator. "

Among other things, the bill bars unions from collecting dues from public

workers. said if the bill didn't pass, as many as 1,500 state workers

could be laid off as early as Friday.

The governnor rescinded the layoff notices Friday morning, as he signed the

bill.

With files from The Associated Press End of Story ContentBack to accessibility

links

[Guest guest]

And the protests are getting increasingly violent and more death threats are being leveled at Republicans. So much for the post-Gifford civility. Some of the leaders of these actions are saying they will ramp it up there and in other states.

The logic of those people never ceases to amaze me. The union claims to be about protecting the jobs of its members but in the private sector, every time they squeeze some new concessions, many workers are laid off. How is that a victory? How is it a victory when companies are squeezed right out of the country and no one has a job anymore? The public unions just force tax increases and so aren't affected in the same way. However, we are seeing the effect as cities and states are going bankrupt.

In a message dated 3/11/2011 12:30:15 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, no_reply writes:

The Republican politician signed the bill privately Friday morning, after the state assembly passed the bill by a vote of 53 to 42 on Thursday afternoon. That vote followed more than three weeks of protests that drew tens of thousands of people to the cash-strapped state's legislative building in opposition.