Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen had asked appeals court to stay a rule by a Dane County judge that said parts of the collective-bargaining law are unconstitutional.
A Wisconsin appeals court Tuesday refused to put a hold on a judge's decision repealing major parts of Act 10, the law that ended collective bargaining for most public workers. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in September had asked the 4th District Court of Appeals to stay the ruling by Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas that portions of the law were unconsitutional. Van Hollen wanted to stay the decision while the case was being appealed. Colas refused in October to do so, and the state appeals court on Tuesday upheld that decision, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The appeals court said it saw "no basis to set aside the circuit court's decision that a stay was not warranted," the State Journal reported. Today’s ruling likely …
Friday, January 18, 2013
Act 10, which essentially stripped public unions of their ability to bargain, was ruled constitutional on Friday in a federal appeals court.
The controversial state law that curtails collective bargaining for most public employees was upheld by a federal appeals court Friday. In ruling that Act 10 is constitutional, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said the state had a rational reason for rolling back collective bargaining rights, and rejected arguments from public employees unions that they violated First Amendment rights, WisPolitics.com reported. The court overturned a decision by a federal judge last year that struck down parts of the law dealing with prohibitions on government employers withholding union dues from workers' payrolls and a section requiring labor unions to vote to re-certify yearly, the Journal Sentinel reported. A separate case challenging the law remains …
Friday, December 28, 2012
2012 really did feel like one long election, didn't it? And at the center of it all: the historic recall elections.
The historic recall of Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and a handful of Republican state senators this year dominated the headlines for the first half of 2012. After nearly 1 million signatures were turned in against Walker - primarily because of Act 10, which severely limited how far collective bargaining could go for public employees - the fight got under way among Democrats for who would challenge the governor. A live forum was hosted at the George Bray Center by a number of Racine-area groups for the Democratic primary candidates; Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, Kathleen Vinehout and Doug LaFollette, and Independent gubernatorial candidate Hariprasad "Hari" Trivedi. Opponents of …
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Gov. Scott Walker talks about the Dane County judge's ruling on the state's collective bargaining law during this week's radio address.
The state partnered with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to produce and distribute brief radio address once a week. Audio files and a written transcript of this radio address can be accessed on http://www.wi-broadcasters.org and http://walker.wi.gov/Weekly-Radio-Addresses. To download an mp3 file, you can right click the radio address link and click “save link as.” Hi, this is Scott Walker. As you may have heard, recently, a Dane County judge in Madison issued a ruling that struck down key provisions of the budget reforms enacted late last year. We are confident this ruling will be overturned because Act 10 is constitutional. This would not be the first time a Dane County judge's decision on Act 10 was held to be wrong by a …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Organizers are angered with rulings on voter ID law, collective bargaining and more — and they want to send a message via a protest rally.
Area conservatives have planned a rally protesting recent decisions made by Dane County judges from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the state Capitol in Madison. The organizing group consists of Caledonia resident Eddie Willing, a member of Founders Intent; Paris Procopis, an activist affiliated with Founders Intent; Wisconsin state treasurer Kurt Schuller; the Tea Party Patriots; an unnamed former judge; and an unnamed state legislator. “We demand they respect the other two branches of government and allow our state to run by the consent of the people,” according to a statement released by the group. “Our state Constitution needs judges that apply the law the people write, not reinterpret it.” The purpose of the rally is to remind “judges they…
Friday, September 14, 2012
As news of Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas' decision to strike down the state's collective bargaining law spread, liberals marked the ruling a win while conservatives took issue with it.
Just hours after Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas decided that the state’s collective bargaining law was unconstitutional, reaction from liberals and conservatives erupted. According to our media partners at FOX 6 News, Colas ruled Act 10 — the budget repair bill — as null and void because the law violates both the state and U.S. constitutions. Specifically, the law violates the guarantee of freedom of speech and citizens' freedom of association. The news heated up Wisconsin liberals and conservatives on social media sites, caused outrage and praise from elected officials, and pleased top union officials. A event page titled We Aren’t Backing Down! Tell Wisconsin Union Judges NO! was posted by a group called Founders’ Intent and …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Despite all the furor in Madison last year over the rights of public workers, new poll says Democrats are most concerned about jobs as they head to the polls in Tuesday's recall primary election.
When tens of thousands of demonstrators descended on the Wisconsin Capitol in February and March 2011, the protests were all about Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill and how it changed collective bargaining for public employees. In fact, it was the outrage over the passage of that bill — known as Act 10 when it became law — that was the impetus for the effort to recall Walker from office. But with the Democratic primary election less than a week away, and the general recall election slated for June 5, the issue of collective bargaining has pretty much taken a back seat to jobs and other issues, according to a poll released Wednesday. The Marquette University Law School Poll says 46 percent of those who are likely to vote in Tuesday's …
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
State Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), praises changes in state law after Gov. Scott Walker announces the savings from collective bargaining limits for the public sector.
Updated at 3:40 pm to reflect new input from the Governor's office regarding Racine County. A state lawmaker who represents a good part of Racine County is praising Gov. Scott Walker’s announcement that the state’s controversial budget repair law has resulted in $1 billion in savings. Act 10 - the budget repair bill - significantly limited public unions in collective bargaining. State Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, released the following statement after Walker appeared in Manitowoc Monday morning where the governor made the announcement: “The fiscal reforms are paying off for Racine County and the entire state. The $1 billion in savings is just the beginning of the benefits from the smart choices that were made for the financial future of …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Milwaukee mayor and gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett welcomed another endorsement, from U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, in his campaign to unseat Gov. Scott Walker. In other news, see details on the latest poll on the Democratic primary.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett picked up another endorsement Monday, from U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee), in his push to grab the Democratic nod and unseat Gov. Scott Walker in June's recall election. Voters are a little more than three weeks away from tapping Walker's Democratic challenger, and Barrett was on the campaign trail in Milwaukee touting how his administration would end Wisconsin's political civil war and restore collective bargaining and tax fairness, while fielding the endorsement from Moore. Barrett will square off against former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) and Secretary of State Doug La Follette in a Democratic primary May 8. The winner will take on Walker on June 5. Barrett …
Sunday, April 15, 2012
For months Caledonia officials have been saying they want police and fire union employees to pay what the non-union employees are paying toward pension and health care costs, but those provisions are not included in the village's "final" offer
After months of trying to settle the Caledonia police contract, the village and the union are officially at an impasse and asking the state to intervene. The Wisconsin Professional Police Association, the union that represents Caledonia police employees, and village officials handed in their final offers into Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission on March 31. Now the two sides are waiting for the offers to be certified before they pick an arbitrator, who will choose between the two offers and make the final decision. But neither offer calls for police union members paying 5.9 percent of their wages into their state pensions in 2012 or 2013. That's surprising because several trustees had made it clear earlier that police officers …
Fred Fischer
8:59 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Lots of emotions here. I would think there's more of an advantage to not collectively bargain. That way the best producers will be rewarded adequately and not be dragged down by the weak and/or lazy. Also, I don't think anyone should be forced to join a union. more ›