Posted on 02/18/2011 6:45:49 AM PST by bronxville
Durbin: Wisconsin workers shouldn't be 'badgered' by governor
By Daniel Strauss - 02/18/11 07:52 AM ET
One of the Senate's top Democrats has come out in support of Wisconsin workers protesting labor reforms by the state's governor.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), in a press statement released Thursday night, criticized Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker's labor reforms as a way of keeping workers from winning fair pay.
“Workers across the country should have the right to stand together for fair compensation and a safe workplace," Durbin said. "Wisconsin’s teachers and state workers should not be badgered by a governor who refuses to sit down and work out a fair compromise.
“This time around, this Chicago Bears fan is rooting for Wisconsin and its workers,” Durbin continued.
At issue is a set of labor reforms that limit the bargaining rights of state workers and force them to contribute more money to state benefits and pension plans.
The reforms have sparked massive protests in the state capitol by Wisconsin's workers, and labor groups have vocally objected. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) compared the protests to those in Egypt, saying it was like "Cairo's moved to Madison."
Democrats in the State Legislature have left the state so that a quorum couldn't be called for a vote on the legislation.
On Thursday, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) sided with Walker.
Hoooo, boy. That Dick Dirtbin. What a wit.
I agree. They should be FIRED!
Hey Sen. Dirtbag, you’ve got a state back here at home that’s in far worse shape, with a clueless sock-puppet in the Governors Mansion and a corrupt politically-motivated legislature running Illinois into the abyss. Keep your stinkin’ nose out of other states business.
Meanwhile in his home State is preparing to “badger” its people with massive State layoffs and tax increases.
Moron!!
Everything that needs to be said about this story can be summed up in five words:
Ronald Reagan - Air Traffic Controllers
Period.
Badgered, no!!! Fired, Yes!!!
Oh, I didn’t realize they were after “fair pay”!
That is so easy! Fire half of them, then cut the salaries of the other half and do away with their bennies. How you like being in the private sector? Now THAT’S fair!
The official state animal...the governor!
If memory serves me, this was the same logic the aircraft controller's union used just before Reagan busted them back in the early 1980's. I just hope Walker has the stones to tell these people to go take a hike.
I'm a retired college professor and I've always maintained that the tenure system, at any education level, kindergarten through graduate school, is a bad idea. It removes one level of responsibility for what you say in the classroom to a bunch of people who haven't even begun to think critically. It's time to take the NEA, AFT, and AAUP to task and free educational institutions to pick what they feel are good teachers and not be ham-strung by a set of collective bargaining rules.
The complaint about fair pay is a lie anyway.
The governor is targeting collective bargaining on benefits, not salary.
They don’t call him Turban Durbin for nothing.
The unions are smart enough to know that straight pay and benefits are really the same thing. Try to gore either ox and they're going to get really miffed.
..........and even worse, from the union's point of view, the state will no longer withhold union dues from employee pay checks. Depending on members to voluntarily pay dues will be the final death knoll for unions because as much as they love their union benefits, when they have to actually write a check every month, they will balk.
It was stupid of Ryan to compare the demonstrations in Wisconsin to Cairo. Absolutely and utterly dumb. I am imagine he regrets every saying that.
That is exactly the image the union thugs want - the idea that their protesters are fighting for something noble and democratic. In fact, they are protesting to protect their absurd benefit packages and corrupt power in Wisconsin.
Ryan screwed up by saying that. The media seized on that comment and have used it to mold public opinion in favor of of the leftist protesters ever since.
This is because his compadre, the corrupt Dem liar Governor Quinn, broke his campaign pledge and just raised the state income tax by a horrendous amount.
This is already driving business out of Illinois, but at least the upcoming confiscated tax dollars will keep the teachers' and other unions that control the state legislature happy for a while.
The Illinois state income tax is a bottomless mother lode for the Dems to mine for decades to come. Utilizing it as a tool to pay into union pension funds avoids all those pesky demonstrations and strikes such as Wisconsin is experiencing.
Leni
What the State of Wisconsin does is none of Durbin’s business.
Didn’t Illinois just enact a 60% tax increase?
He’ll be here all week and the veal is great!
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