Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Readies National Guard Against Unions

reply to post by Flatfish


People who've never been in an union will poo-poo it until the day they have to face management.

That's the mentality in this country.

Wow. Seriously? The National Guard? What are they going to do, bust the picket lines? Be scabs and do the work?

It appears that some police, state troopers, and firefighters are exempt. host.madison.com...

Fuller says many members of the State Patrol have relatives who work for the state, and Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to end collective bargaining for most state employees, but not the State Patrol, has put them in an awkward position. State workers are expected to descend on the Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest Walker's proposal, and police presence is expected to be heavy.
"We are currently experiencing all kinds of backlash from our membership because of what I consider to be cherry picking of our union by the governor," he says.
...
The union, in short, is in danger of coming apart. And that's likely what Walker wants.

If he starts a trend of busting the police unions (and with them the pensions) and then we go to a privatized police like Xe because of this, then my predictions over the past year or so will have come true.

They want to bust ALL the unions in this country, and with them the pension, and the state and federal ones are among the last strong ones.

It might be time to show some solidarity countrywide by at least staying home from work. Fat chance of that happening though. People are still in what can only be termed as denial mode about what it going on in this country.

reply to post by MMPI2

Is this supposed to be funny? Not exactly clear on what you're saying here, but a good part of the reason that our work went offshore is because they busted some key unions.

reply to post by Flatfish


No, it is all of them.. If you haven't noticed, once republicans and democrats get elected, the first thing that happens is they get briefed on the proper way to "play ball" with each other... So they can all get rich with little discomfort to either party..

For you believe it is all republicans means that you have bought the deception, and they are laughing at you collectively..

time to really wake up..

reply to post by brill


By turning down the stimulus money....2300 jobs were eliminated....
He's a facist...trying to destroy the middle class....

You go, Governor Walker! You continue to push down wages and benefits for American workers! Lower the standard of living here! Afterall, we went to war to defend our way of life, and, hell, Governor, you just might be doing us all a big favor, just get rid of our way of life! No more attacks by those who "object to our way of life".

And when those American workers don't want to lower their way of life, surround 'em by soldiers. You bet, Governor! I just hope your citizens don't protest like those in Egypt. It looks like there the govt paid attention to its people. You might have to tell your soldiers to shoot.

Originally posted by Flatfish

Originally posted by Black_Fox


I woke up to reading this in my local newspaper.
And after talking ot many people around town,things seem,well a bit "off".

This whole thing sounds a bit extreme.
Im not Alex Jones,but this is a very close use of "martial law" I have ever seen threatened.

Anyone else around the country hearing similar reports from there states?

I would like to think the idea of martial law,would be used in the worse case scenarios,not as a threat.

I also keep seeing this popping up on numerous webites as well.......(its usually a wi flag or a cartoon image that links to this site)

www.notmywisconsin.com...



www.huffingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is very much like Martial Law and isn't it odd that it's a conservative republican who is threatening to impose it? After all the fear mongering that the liberals and progressives are trying to turn this into a communist country and take away our rights and transfer the wealth and all that crap. Finally, the truth comes out!

Let's see here; I'm going to enter into a legally binding contract with labor that guarantees a specific level of compensation for a specific job performed and now that you have performed the job, I've decided that I won't pay you the agreed upon amount and if you don't like it, I've got guardsmen who will shoot you. Now who does that sound like? A low life, lying assed republican, that's who. It's the republican/conservative movement that wishes to enslave America and the proof is in the pudding.

Nurses cannot strike without suffering severe consequences... or so I was recently informed. They can lose their job... their license and face criminal charges... depending on the situation/circumstances. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

reply to post by 1088no5


www.chicagotribune.com...

Seems like these nurses may be on the verge of finding that out. The title is messed up temporarily on this story...

The union represents 1,200 Cook County nurses. Their contract expired in 2008. A strike vote in late December was approved by more than 85 percent of the nurses. No strike date has been set.

Originally posted by The Sword
reply to post by Flatfish

 

People who've never been in an union will poo-poo it until the day they have to face management.

That's the mentality in this country.

You are so right. It just really pisses me off when I hear these people spouting off about stuff for which they know nothing about. These are very shallow minded people who's thought process is probably shorter than my pecker.

It reminds me of the current debate regarding Social Security shortfalls and possible remedies. Did it ever dawn on one of these idiots that one of the main reason for the projected shortfalls has been the suppression of wages? 12.4% of a union wage is considerably higher than 12.4% of minimum wage and add to that, the fact that the rich have exempted most of their salaries from the tax entirely. Cutting benefits is Not the only option, it's just the only option that the greedy are willing to put forth.

Look.

Unions as they exist today are job killers. If you've worked in the United States for any length of time, you know this. There is no way to spin it.

Folks that support unions are dupes. Union members are too stupid to have figured out that they are indentured servants and "useful idiots".

No major growth industry is going to do business with union workers.

I will never buy a vehicle that was made in a union shop, and I seek out big ticket items made overseas because I understand that anything created by an American union worker is most likely garbage put together by an illiterate pot-smoking cretin.

Maybe we can all get lucky and the Gov. will get his boys to crack some union skulls open, just for the fun of it.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
reply to post by 1088no5

 

www.chicagotribune.com...

Seems like these nurses may be on the verge of finding that out.

That's nurses being laid off in Cook County, Chicago, IL. Different state... different scenario. Sounds to me like they're planning on seperating the wheat from the chaff.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
reply to post by MMPI2

 

Is this supposed to be funny? Not exactly clear on what you're saying here, but a good part of the reason that our work went offshore is because they busted some key unions.

edit on 2/14/2011 by ~Lucidity because: (no reason given)

edit on 2/14/2011 by ~Lucidity because: (no reason given)

Where do you get the things you post?

How about some information to back up that claim?

Otherwise, it just makes too damn much common sense that U.S. unions have priced their members out of jobs with their sweetheart contracts causing company after company to ship their jobs overseas where labor costs were much less - and there are no unions.

People not in unions face management alone. They are on their own entirely and at the mercy of the government AND the corporations and workplaces that employ them. And look where that's gotten unionless workers. To the unemployment line. Until that runs out. The vast majority of jobs that have flooded out of this country were non-union. The only unions that truly remain are those where they cannot offshore the work...teachers (yet), police, fire departments, the car manufacturers still hanging in there. And good luck to them once they bust their unions too. Part of the demonization of police is to pave the way for this, as is a lot of the healthcare fiasco. And by the way, the union busting started in earnest under the administration of Reagan. Everything started declining from there.

reply to post by centurion1211

From a lifetime of experience and observation. Bookmark this page and lets talk in a year about state worker pensions, particularly police. I'm on record here many times making this prediction. And it's going to come true. Mark my words.

In SOME cases what you say may have some validity. In other cases, it's part of the corruption and demonization process.

And by the way? Did you know that workers in China are unionizing? Mmmhmmm.

reply to post by 1088no5


You are absolutely right that some unions have "NO Strike" clauses which prohibit them from striking, much like PATCO had when they decided to strike despite the clause and Reagan fired them all. Although, they do have the right to collective bargaining and/or arbitration and they should not be subjected to unilateral ultimatums. Just keep in mind that everyone has the right to quit.

Having read the article and the posts there are a few things that can be stated:
As with any disagreement, there are 2 sides to the issue here. One the side of the unions, no one should dispute about what all unions in the past have done for the workers in different countries, and the United States being one of them. From having a more unified pay scale, to workdays and actual rights for the people in the different aspects of businesses. The laws govern the way the common worker is treated and fairness in the work place. Unions helped to keep some companies from going under, often working with the management to succeed.
On the other side of the argument is the governor who has a duty to everyone in the state. He was elected to a mess that was left to him, not created while he was in office, but rather was present, as many who are in office are having to deal with. The problem ultimately, and it spans on every level of society in the country to day, a poor economy and a deficit that is growing. Many states have holes in their budget and limited resources to be able to keep the state going, and with more need than the prior year. Part of the problem are contracts and promises that were made before, such as pensions and high wages, that are affecting those budgets. The cuts have to be made, and can hurt. Ultimately emergency services have to go and the public safety have to be always on the forefront of any who would be put in a position of authority. In this case, he took a look at the budget and has decided to make cuts. But in doing such, he risks the chance that some of the unions and their members will strike or walk off the job. He is removing an aspect to where they are not able or allowed to due such. Does this exist, yes, it does and has been enforced before, as it would be legal in all aspects of federal law. Some of the federal jobs, even though they are part of a union, it is against the law to strike or walk off, to include halting and suspending collective bargaining.
So put yourself in the governors shoes, you have to make cuts, and say the police union is not happy and threatens to strike, what all do you do? You can not give in to their demands, and you have to keep the population safe, what alternatives are you left with? It would have to turn to the national guard, and utilize them to keep the peace and empower them, temporarily, with the ability and powers of the law. Would you be happy if the local prison guards, just went on strike and all of the criminals in prison could just walk out before they are done with their sentence? As we are not sure what all the cuts are and what parts of the state employees would be affected, it is far to early to see what ultimately is going to happen. If it is peaceful, then if the State guard moves on the orders of the governor, then the fault lies with the governor. But if it affects public safety, where it turns ugly or dangerous, then the fault lies with the unions.

Two more words:

Unions suck.

reply to post by Flatfish

Just keep in mind that everyone has the right to quit.

And this is where they seperate the wheat from the chaff... because when you quit you lose your seniority. Any talk on buyouts, I wonder???

Maybe if these government servants didn't make 45 % more than the average private sector employee in the same field (whose tax dollars fund the government employee salary, mind you), this issue wouldn't exist, and these unions who helped create this issue wouldn't be threatened. Government worker pay needs to be knocked down to size, as does the pay of every elected government official.

Originally posted by 1088no5
reply to post by Flatfish

 

Just keep in mind that everyone has the right to quit.

And this where they seperate the wheat from the chaff... because when you quit you lose your seniority.

Here we go again with statements that may or may not be true. The rules governing seniority are set and regulated by each union and as a matter of fact, many "Locals" from the same parent union have completely different seniority structures. In the particular union I worked for, we got hired and fired every day, so quitting didn't necessarily affect ones seniority, although it could if one quit often enough. But that was just my particular Local, in my particular union. You see how easy it is to be wrong?