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Lynn Warne is the president of the Nevada State Education Association, and she appeared on Anjeanette Damon's “To the Point” show over the weekend, where she made the following comment about AB 225 and some other minor education reform bills passed by the 2011 Legislature. (7:30 mark) Warne: Provisions in those bills [including AB 225], much of which we supported, really struck at the heart of what we feel are educators' rights, workers' rights, human rights really, and there was no compromise to be had. (Emphasis added)Striking at the heart of "human rights" is a serious charge, so let's consider...

Madison - How much public workers should pay for benefits is emerging as a new flash point in the Democratic race to see who will take on Scott Walker in the recall election for governor. The two leading contenders part ways significantly, with Kathleen Falk wanting to open the issue back up in union negotiations and Tom Barrett wanting to keep employee contributions at current levels. And although both say they would attempt to re-establish the ability of public-sector unions to engage in negotiations - which was lost under Walker - they differ in how they would go about trying...

A federal court on Friday struck down key parts of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial collective bargaining legislation, ruling that the state cannot prevent public employee unions from collecting dues and cannot require they recertify annually. The collective bargaining bill, also known as Act 10, established a system in which most of the public unions were required to have a majority of their members vote every year to recertify. The law also took away some unions' rights to collect mandatory dues. The court ruled that the state did not have the right to pick and choose which public unions could charge...

Gov. Scott Walker told an audience Thursday in Washington, D.C., that he expected to face a recall election "sometime in early June" and said his Democratic opponent would be "someone handpicked by the unions." Walker said the biggest reason he had been targeted for recall was that union dues can no longer be automatically deducted from the paychecks of public-sector employees. "I think at the end that's what all the focus around here in Washington, in terms of the national unions focused on getting me recalled," Walker said. "What it really comes down to, I took away the gravy train,...

In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Herman Cain said he supports the "right" for public employees to bargain collectively. In other words, he is in favor of unions on the taxpayer dime. Cain also said federal workers have unions, meaning the right to collectively bargain, but they do not. On the issue of collective bargaining, Cain said he supported the right of public employees to bargain collectively. "But not collective hijacking. What I mean by that, if they have gotten so much for so many years and it's going to bankrupt the state, I don't think that's good....

Democrats and unions are hailing Tuesday's vote to repeal an Ohio law curbing collective-bargaining protections as the sign of an invigorated movement that could boost Democrats next fall. That is, if they've got enough fight left in them. The campaign to overturn the Republican-approved union law cost unions and their supporters millions of dollars. It followed another costly campaign in Wisconsin to recall state Republicans behind that state's anti-union law. And it precedes a new fight in Wisconsin to recall GOP Gov. Scott Walker. With millions of dollars going from union coffers to preserve union benefits and protections, and punish...

With few statewide elections and nothing nationally in 2011, several initiatives in Ohio provide bellwethers with broad implications for 2012. Issue 2, if passed, will uphold Senate Bill 5, a Republican attempt to alleviate looming budget problems by decelerating the expansion of employee compensation packages via collective bargaining reform. Thanks to a gargantuan grassroots effort, Issue 3, the Healthcare Freedom Amendment, will test Obamacare’s mettle. It would prevent pretentious governments from forcing citizens to finance their care in fashions fancied by bureaucrats. The attention afforded these contests across the ideological spectrum from Rush Limbaugh to the Huffington Post underscores their...

Today, Mitt Romney refused to take a position on the big battle in Ohio over the ballot initiative to repeal Governor John Kasich’s law rolling back the collective bargaining rights of public employees. The fight is a hugely important one to conservatives, with right wing money flowing into the state, and conservative bloggers erupted in fury at Romney, asking how it is that he can be running for president when he isn’t willing to take a firm stand against the scourge of public employees. [snip] Governors who are willing to risk serious unpopularity in order to roll back the bargaining...

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has signed two executive orders providing a path for child care workers and home care attendants who work in state-funded programs to organize and gain collective bargaining rights. The orders enact scaled-back versions of legislative proposals that did not pass this year and, in the case of home care workers, generated intense opposition. While the proposals would have given collective bargaining rights to family child care providers and personal care attendants, the executive orders establish working groups that would report to the governor by February on how best to establish collective bargaining rights for the two...

***VIDEO AT LINK*** Dr. Moe: “If you stand up for kids, you have to oppose this [collective bargaining] Schools get organized by the adults on the basis of interests and concerns that have nothing to do with kids. So, why would you expect that system to work?” As students head back to school, it is a good time to reflect on why education is failing and continues to fail. Terry Moe, Chairman of the Political Science Department at Stanford, provides a dispassionate and extensively researched book, Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools, which should become a useful and...

Emily Koczela had been anxiously waiting for months for Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s controversial budget repair bill to take effect. Koczela, the finance director for the Brown Deer school district, had been negotiating with the local union, trying to get it to accept concessions in order to make up for a $1 million budget shortfall. But the union wouldn’t budge. “We laid off 27 [teachers] as a precautionary measure,” Koczela told me. “They were crying. Some of these people are my friends.” On June 29 at 12:01 a.m., Koczela could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The budget repair bill​—​delayed...

A group looking to abolish collective bargaining rights for California's public sector employees filed three proposed ballot initiatives this week. Whether California Center for Public Policy, led by UC Santa Barbara economics lecturer Lanny Ebenstein, can raise enough money to put the proposals before voters is unclear. The center released a report last year concluding that voters need a chance to resolve California's persistent fiscal problems by cutting government workers' compensation rather than raising taxes and eliminating services. "Government does not exist to provide compensation and pensions for government workers," Ebenstein said. "Government exists to provide good public services at...

"This is a disaster," Mark Miller, the Wisconsin Senate Democratic leader, said in February after Republican Gov. Scott Walker proposed a budget bill that would curtail the collective-bargaining powers of some public employees. Miller predicted catastrophe if the bill were to become law -- a charge repeated thousands of times by his fellow Democrats, union officials and protesters in the streets. Now the bill is law, and we have some early evidence of how it is working. And for one beleaguered Wisconsin school district, it's a godsend, not a disaster. The Kaukauna Area School District, in the Fox River Valley...

Susan Flood says she will gladly subtract $4,000 in pension and health premiums from her take-home pay next year in exchange for not having to pay roughly $800 in union dues. Few of her fellow teachers at Brookwood Elementary School in the Genoa City District share her view of Wisconsin's new public sector labor law, which soon will affect the paychecks of thousands of public employees, Flood said. But she is a Republican who has been required for 19 years to pay dues to a union she views as promoting mediocrity and high taxes. So when the law stripped public...

So the state's deficit is fixed, its finances are honest for the first time in about a decade, public services are trimmed but not decimated and no taxpayers were skinned to make it happen. All in all, it's been a good week for Wisconsin, especially its hard-pressed, middle-class taxpayers. And, if I might get political, the first six months of the Age of Walker have left conservatism in a surprisingly solid condition in Wisconsin. You might not know that from the theatrics in Madison - the fringe of tents, the bucket-drummers in the rotunda, the activists telling Progressive magazine it's...

GREEN BAY - With a publication in the Wisconsin State Journal, the state's collective bargaining law is set to take effect on Wednesday. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Governor Scott Walker says he should have done more to prepare the public for eliminating most collective bargaining for most state employees. He admits he was just focused on completing the legislation. Walker says his office "had not built enough of the case." He goes on to say what he "should have done, from a political standpoint, was build that case sooner." “The proposals he has been making have...

A Wisconsin judge has struck down a law taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most state workers. Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled Thursday that Republican legislators violated Wisconsin's open meetings law during the run up to passage. She says that renders the law void. The law pushed by Gov. Scott Walker takes away all bargaining rights except over base salary for teachers and other public workers. The decision is not the end of the legal fight. The state Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for June 6 to determine whether it will take the same case. Lawmakers...

Wisconsin ethics officials unanimously decided to dismiss all ethics complaints against both Republicans and Democrats that stemmed from political maneuvering during the battle over Gov. Scott Walker's divisive union rights bill. The Government Accountability Board said in a statement Wednesday that while the board did take the time to review hundreds of complaints against lawmakers from both parties, most complaints centered on political tactics outside of the scope of state ethics laws.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Members of Ohio's largest teachers' union have agreed to a one-time, $54 dues increase to pay for the fight against Ohio's new collective bargaining law. A spokeswoman for the Ohio Education Association says 111,000 active union members would pay the extra dollars under a proposal overwhelmingly approved Friday. School support staff would pay $25. Student and retired members were exempted. The dues change could mean an additional $5.5 million for the union.

MADISON, Wis. -- The state Supreme Court has asked attorneys for reasons why it should take up a lawsuit challenging Gov. Scott Walker's divisive collective bargaining plan. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne has filed a lawsuit alleging Republican legislators violated Wisconsin's open meetings law during debate on the plan before Walker signed it into law in March. Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi has blocked the law from taking effect while she considers the lawsuit. Sumi is expected to make a decision on the case after May 23. The state Justice Department last month asked the Supreme Court...

MADISON, Wis. -- Fallout from the collective bargaining rights battle continues as the Wisconsin Grocers Association is warning its members about a sticker campaign targeting companies that supported Gov. Scott Walker. Opponents of Walker have been calling for a boycott of companies that supported Walker's campaign. The Wisconsin Grocers Association said it heard through email and social media that protesters from outside Wisconsin are planning to tag products made by companies that supported Walker with stickers discouraging them to buy the product. On the list of products being targeted for stickers are Johnsonville brats, AngelSoft toilet paper, Sargento cheese and...

The Republican-controlled Oklahoma Senate dealt organized labor another defeat on Tuesday when it voted to repeal a collective bargaining law. The 29-19 vote means that some of the state's fastest-growing cities no longer will be required to collectively bargain with sanitation workers and other non-uniformed workers. The measure already passed the Oklahoma House and now goes to Governor Mary Fallin, a Republican, who is expected to sign it into law.

April 15, 2011 4:18 p.m. | Madison — Dane County officials are dropping their suit over a plan to limit collective bargaining for public workers. That reduces the number of cases over the controversial measure from three to two.

BOSTON – Leaders of the Massachusetts House of Representatives released an annual budget that proposes to allow communities to unilaterally pass on certain costs of health insurance to municipal workers, sparking an outcry from representatives of public employee unions. The $30.5 billion budget approved by the Committee on House Ways and Means cuts $94 million more than the budget unveiled by Gov. Deval L. Patrick in January. House leaders said their budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 would close a $1.9 billion budget gap, partly by matching the governor’s proposal to withdraw $200 million from the state’s...

By 45%-42%, voters back Republican efforts to balance state budgets by limiting collective bargaining rights for government unions, according to the latest IBD/TIPP poll. That stance is backed by Republicans, 80%-8%, and by independents, 46%-36%. Even 14% of Democrats say limit collective bargaining. That’s a switch from last month when an IBD/TIPP poll asked whether voters favored Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker or the state public employee unions in that state’s showdown over bargaining rights. That poll found the public supported the unions, 49%-43%. Democrats backed the unions, 83%-11%, while independents backed them, 47%-42%. Republicans backed Walker, 82%-11%.

CONCORD, N.H. -- Amid chants from the gallery and thousands of demonstrators in the Statehouse plaza, New Hampshire's Republican-dominated House approved a $10.2 billion budget yesterday that makes deep cuts to social programs and strips public unions of much of their bargaining power. The House debated the budget for five hours before Republicans pushed it through, 243-124.

MADISON –Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch today released the following statement regarding the implementation of the budget repair bill: “I have a legal obligation to execute all laws pertaining to my department that have been passed by both houses of the legislature, signed by the Governor, and published into law. The Department of Justice has concluded that 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 has met those requirements and is now effective law. My legal counsel agrees with the Department of Justice’s legal reasoning and conclusions. Accordingly, it is my duty to administer that law. “On the other hand, Judge Sumi...

Two city of Madison labor unions and Dane County dropped their request to consolidate their complaints over the guv's collective bargaining law after being told doing so would allow the state to seek a new judge. Dane County and two city of Madison labor unions, AFL-CIO Local 236 and Firefighters Local 311, sought to consolidate their separate complaints over the act. Attorneys for the plaintiffs asked the state to agree not to seek a substitution of judges before moving forward. But Judge Maryann Sumi said the defendants did not have to bind themselves to that commitment. The motion was then...

Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi issued an order this afternoon blocking further implementation of the collective bargaining bill. Sumi stopped short of signing off on a proposed declaration that publication by the Legislative Reference Bureau does not make the law take effect. But she made clear during her ruling that "further implementation of the act is enjoined." The judge reiterated that lawmakers could easily implement the law through another, properly noticed committee hearing and legislative vote, commenting that "when taxpayers are paying the bill, that needs to be part of the discussion" of continuing litigation. Sumi also warned that those...

A Dane County judge has declined to hold a hearing today on the LRB's actions. Judge Sarah O'Brien, who was the on call judge for emergencies yesterday, was contacted by Dane County DA Ismael Ozanne, who wanted an ex parte order in regard to LRB publishing the collective bargaining bill. O'Brien originally set a hearing for 10 a.m. this morning, but decided to cancel it after looking at the LRB's website and reviewing a footnote on the published bill regarding the complaint Ozanne has filed and the temporary restraining order issued by one of her colleagues, according to a statement...

A state appeals court says it found two cases that seem to back the Dane County DA’s position in the collective bargaining bill complaint and two that support the secretary of state’s argument. The 4th District Court of Appeals wrote in its certification to the Supreme Court on the complaint that it would be appropriate for the justices to take the case because there are issues they would ultimately consider on petition for review anyway. Taking it up directly would “reduce the burden and expense of the appellate process on both the parties and the judicial system.” Assembly Minority Leader...

nce again the left shows us that “We the People” and the rule of law mean nothing. The socialist County Court Judge Maryann Sumi is doing what the left-wing judicial branch does best; circumventing the will of the people by legislating from the bench. Politico reported that Judge Maryann Sumi temporarily halted Wisconsin’s union law.Dane County Court Judge Maryann Sumi issued the order — which prevents Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug LaFollette from publishing the collective bargaining law until she could rule on the case — in response to a complaint brought by the county district attorney on behalf of...

During a conference call with thousands of activists Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden joined Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka in commending union protesters for standing up to Republicans across the country. “You guys built the middle class,“ Biden said during the ”virtual town hall” conversation hosted by the AFL-CIO. “I would just emphasize what Hilda [Solis] said and say it slightly different: We don’t see the value of collective bargaining, we see the absolute positive necessity of collective bargaining. “Let’s get something straight,” he continued. “The only people who have the capacity — organizational capacity and...

Secretary of State Doug La Follette said after spending much time talking to people this weekend and thinking over when to publish the collective bargaining bill, he'd decided the bill will be published March 25. La Follette, a Democrat, said he wants to give local officials and employees time to sort out the ramifications of the new law. "There literally are hundreds of school boards, municipalities, cities and their employees who are working together -- that's what impressed me, both management and labor working together -- that are tyring to sort out the best way to deal with this," La...

Summation of article. 1) Sea Isle City citizens had to pay $1 million dollars to settle lawsuits cause by corrupt police who have still have not been fired. 2) Cases involved beating of a minor with hemophelia, perjury, falsifying warrants, cover-up by the department, and racism. A) "Documents provided by the city before the Feb. 1 and 2, 2007 trial, as well as testimony by officers at trial, gave contradictory information about which officers were present, the suit said, alleging this was done to cover up officers' wrongdoing." B) "U.S. District Court Judge Robert B. Kugler wrote in 2008 that...

Madison— Today Governor Walker’s office released specific examples and new details to show how collective bargaining fiscally impacts government and how reforming collective bargaining can improve government. A Year’s Worth of Pay for 30 Days of Work Under the Green Bay School District’s collectively bargained Emeritus Program, teaches can retire and receive a year’s worth of salary for working only 30 days over a three year period. This is paid in addition to their already guaranteed pension and health care payouts. At the average annual salary for a Green Bay teacher of $51,355, this amounts to a daily rate of...

The Idaho Legislature has approved a bill that would phase out tenure for new teachers and limit their collective-bargaining rights, marking a victory for lawmakers seeking union reforms in state capitals across the country.  The bill went to Gov. Butch Otter's desk after it was approved by the House on a 48-22 vote, with nine Republicans joining Democrats in opposition to the GOP-backed measure after hours of debate.  The measure is part of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna's plan to reform the K-12 education system in Idaho. It would restrict collective bargaining agreements to salaries and benefits while also...

We are guaranteed by our Creator of only certain unalienable rights.

In 18-1 vote, Wis. Senate approves bill to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights

Every good teacher knows it is not always necessary to tell a child something in order to teach a lesson. I remember my fifth grade teacher used to count to ten when us hooligans got too loud and lippy, and everyone would quiet down. She didn't have to say the words, "children, quiet down." Another teacher of mine accomplished the same task by shutting off the lights, the sensory reaction was immediate, there she was, her hands still on the switches, and everyone's head turning toward her, mouth shut, a half-thought forming in their minds, "hey, who turned off the...

A Wisconsin Democratic senator who fled the state to block a Republican Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining bill says negotiations on the measure have stalled. Sen. Tim Cullen, a Janesville Democrat, tells The Associated Press that talks with Republicans broke down on Thursday. He says it's difficult for either side to compromise: If the Democrats back down, their base won't forgive them, and Walker can't give up anything because he'd be seen as weak. Plus, Assembly Republicans have already passed the bill with no changes, making things tougher for Walker. Cullen said the lines of communications between the parties remain...

When the Wisconsin General Assembly voted to pass Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, the Democratic legislators made themselves indistinguishable from the protesters surrounding the assembly floor. They wore the same pro-union orange T-shirts. They behaved in the same sophomoric way, breaking out in a noisy demonstration. They chanted the same ubiquitous word: "Shame!" They might as well have brought guitars onto the floor for a Woody Guthrie sing-along and touted "Walker = Hitler" signs. In Wisconsin, it's less that Democrats act to protect a special interest than that they belong to a special interest. A complete identification has long...

Collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty. P>How ironic that Wisconsin has become ground zero for the battle between taxpayers and public- employee labor unions. Wisconsin was the first state to allow collective bargaining for government workers (in 1959), following a tradition where it was the first to introduce a personal income tax (in 1911, before the introduction of the current form of individual income tax in 1913 by the federal government).

Where would we be without labor unions? We would be much better off. Americans do not understand what "labor unions" mean. Nothing prevents a group of workers at a plant or office from getting together, signing an agreement which delegates power to negotiate contracts to certain representatives, and then proceeding with collective bargaining by those workers who chose to sign the agreement. That is not unionism; it is simply a business arrangement, much like when an athlete has an agent or a client has a lawyer. The problem with unionism is that those who do not feel such an agreement...

Pundits say he's too short, at 5-foot-7, and lacks the requisite pizzazz to be elected president. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels believes he faces a taller challenge as he ponders a White House run: Could voters warm to his message that the country is doomed unless it slashes its debt and radically revamps the popular Social Security and Medicare programs? In any other year, a campaign platform that gloomy would render a politician toxic. Today, with concerns over the nation's fiscal health on the rise, the Indiana Republican's wonkish bravado is making some think he is a good fit for the...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Republicans and Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly have agreed to a deal that will limit further debate on a bill taking away collective bargaining rights for public workers and lead to a vote on the measure later Thursday.

There is no legitimate role for government unions. Public servants — meaning government employees — don’t work for greedy miscreants exploiting them for personal profit. They work for democratically elected officials representing the will of the people. This is just one reason why there is no legitimate role for government unions, and there should be no collective bargaining rights for public servants. Since public servants work for the people, their wages, benefits, and working conditions are set in accordance with the will of the people, as determined by the democratic process. This is why it is not legitimate to ask...

"Bob Chanin, General Counsel to the National Education Association, recently retired after 41 years of service. In his farewell address to the NEA convention earlier this summer, Mr. Chanin said the following: Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas; it is not because of the merit of our positions; it is not because we care about children; More.. and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. The NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power. And we have...

Alternate headline: “Apparently, Mitch Daniels not running for president.”

(CNSNews.com) - According to an analysis of Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed changes to his state’s collective bargaining rules by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (WLRB), state employees would maintain the ability to collectively bargain for wages as long as the union’s proposed wage increases are no greater than the annual change in the consumer price index (CPI). Additionally, a greater increase could be obtained if approved by a referendum and passed by the voters of the state. On its Web site, the WLRB explains the sections of the bill pertaining to the collective bargaining process. “This bill limits the...