What does taking away public sector unions have to do with fixing the budget? Nothing

In Wisconsin on Tuesday, the Joint Committee on Finance held a public hearing on Governor Scott Walker's budget proposal. Governor Walker announced his proposal on Friday, February 11 and in less than a week, he hopes to have it passed into law with very little debate.

The Proposed Bill:

Requires state employees to contribute 5.8% of salaries to their pensions and at least 12.6% to their health care premiums, resulting in an over 8% pay cut.
Collective bargaining would be ended for Public Employees on all matters, except for wages. However, wages cannot exceed the rate of inflation unless a referendum is approved.
Unions are required to take annual votes to maintain certification and employers would be prohibited from collecting dues and members would not be required to pay dues.
Contracts would be limited to one year and wages would be frozen until a new contract is settled.
The bill authorizes appointing agencies to terminate any employees that are absent for three days without approval of the employer or any employees participating in an organized action to stop or slow work if the governor has declared a state of emergency.

That is not all.

Scott Walker's proposal takes away the rights of home health care workers, family child care workers, and University of Wisconsin faculty and academic staff to have a union.

Many during the hearing posed the question, what do these proposals have to do with fixing the budget? Not much. As Rep. Lena Taylor pointed out, 30% of the bill is pure policy and has nothing to do with balancing the budget. In fact, one item that affects the budget increases it by $165 million because it postpones a debt payment to Minnesota.

Scott Walker is redistributing wealth: taking it from the middle class and giving it to the rich while increasing the state deficit.

At a time when corporations and CEOs are making record profits and breaking record stock prices, it is wrong to "attack those who have little and had little to do with the budget crises and give to those with the most" said Kristin Mattis, a UW-Madison graduate student.

Thomas O'Grady, a sheet metal worker from Local 565, in Sun Prairie, WI said it is a mistake to blame the victim. "There are half as many workers now as before. We have made our sacrifices."

Scott Walker doesn't think so. Instead of closing the corporate tax loopholes, he is giving working families' money away to big business and then asking the families to give up the unions, pay, and benefits that they have worked 30 years to earn.

Oma Vic McMurray asked in her testimony,

As this government is pitting public and private sector workers against each other, are these corporations paying their fair share?"

This bill does not "restore freedom and prosperity to the people of Wisconsin." Instead it takes away both: the freedom to join a union and the security of a job, health care, and retirement.

Wisconsin needs a governor that will create good jobs in Wisconsin now, not a Governor that is going to play partisan politics at a time when many Wisconsinites are hurting.

Show support for Wisconsin public services by 'liking' the Protect Wisconsin Families Facebook page, and follow the rally action online via Wisconsin bloggers and union allies on Twitter. If you live in Wisconsin, let your elected officials know that public workers deserve collective bargaining rights by calling or emailing your State Senator right now.