http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20110424/OSH0101/110423054/Unions-vow-fight-8232-rights-will-8232-continueSenator recalls could
tip balance of power
10:16 PM, Apr. 23, 2011
State and local union officials
said they have no intentions of
giving up advocating for public workers even though they soon
may have virtually no ability to
collectively bargain their work
contracts.
Democrats, unions and other
opponents to Gov. Scott Walker’s
bill limiting collective bargaining to
wage increases no
greater than inflation have called the
measure a union-busting bill.
The bill limits collectively bargaining
to wage increases
only, prohibits employers from
deducting dues from paychecks,
and requires unions to hold annual votes to remain certified.
Although it is currently tied up
in court challenges and a
statewide fight to recall legislators could tip the balance of
power and undo the bill, unions
are nonetheless planning for life
in a significantly altered labor landscape.
“It will fundamentally change
how we do business. It will fundamentally change the things we
have to spend time on. There is
no question the purpose of the
budget repair bill was to bust
unions, but they just don’t know
we won’t go away,” said Mary
Bell, president of the Wisconsin
Education Association Council,
the state’s teachers union. “If the
belief is that we were just a collective bargaining process, I
think they will find that we are
much more than that.”
Bell said the majority of
advocacy done by the state
teachers union on behalf
of its members has historically been done through
the collective bargaining
process because that is
the vehicle set up for them
through the law.
FULL 5 page story at link.
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