Wisconsin-Report

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NYT: Act 10 Barred “Public-Sector Unions From Bargaining Over Pensions, Health Coverage, Safety, Hours, Sick
Leave Or Vacations” And Only Allowed Negotiation Of Base Pay, And Even That Was “Limited: Any Raises They
Win Cannot Exceed Inflation.” According to the New York Times, “Many labor leaders and union members are still
fuming about the law. It bars public-sector unions from bargaining over pensions, health coverage, safety, hours, sick leave or
vacations. All they can negotiate is base pay, and even that is limited: any raises they win cannot exceed inflation.” [New York
Times, 2/22/14]
NYT: Act 10 Has Saved School Districts Money By Freezing Teachers’ Salaries And “Increasing Employee
Contributions For Health Care.” According to the New York Times, “All over the state, public executives are exercising
new authority. Instead of raising teachers’ salaries, the Mequon-Thiensville School District, near Milwaukee, froze them for
two years, saving $560,000. It saved an additional $400,000 a year by increasing employee contributions for health care, said its
superintendent, Demond Means. And it is starting a merit pay system for teachers, a move that has been opposed by some
teachers and embraced by others.” [New York Times, 2/22/14]
• NYT: Act 10 “Required Public Employees” To Contribute “6 Percent Of Their Pay Toward Their Pensions
And At Least 12 Percent Of Their Health Plan Costs,” Resulting In An Effective “12 Percent Pay Cut” For
Many Employees, Further Compounded By Their “Multiyear Pay Freeze.” According to the New York Times,
“Act 10, which still faces court challenges from unions, has generally required public employees to start contributing 6
percent of their pay toward their pensions and at least 12 percent of their health plan costs. For many employees, that
meant a 12 percent pay cut; on top of that, many faced a multiyear pay freeze.” [New York Times, 2/22/14]
NYT: Act 10 Saved Money At The Expense Of Demoralizing Public Workers. According to the New York Times,
“Demoralization is the flip side of Act 10. In Oneida County in northern Wisconsin, the county supervisors jettisoned
language requiring ‘just cause’ when firing employees. Now, said Julie Allen, a computer programmer and head of the main
local for Oneida County’s civil servants, morale is ‘pretty bad’ and workers are afraid to speak out about anything, even safety
issues or a revised pay scale. ‘We don’t have just cause,’ she said. ‘We don’t have seniority protections. So people are pretty
scared.’ Assessing Act 10, Lisa Charbarneau, Oneida County’s director of human resources, said: ‘It’s been a kind of doubleedged
sword. It’s saved some money, but it’s hurt morale. It’s put a black eye, so to speak, on being a government employee,
whether management or hourly. All government employees seem to have taken a hit, there’s this image that they’re sucking all
these good benefits.’” [New York Times, 2/22/14]
The Koch Network Backed Walker’s Efforts To Rob Wisconsin Schools &
Their Students Through Historic Funding Cuts
AFP CELEBRATED THE LARGEST CUTS, $749 MILLION, TO EDUCATION IN
WISCONSIN’S HISTORY AND MOBILIZED TO DEFEND THEM
Americans For Prosperity Heralded Walker’s $749 Million In Cuts From K-12 Public Education As Budget Reforms,
And Held Townhall Events And Spent Handsomely To Defend These “Reforms.” According to the Center for Media
and Democracy, “The Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP) says it is aiming ‘to help citizens separate the rhetoric from
the reality on the budget reforms passed in Wisconsin last year,’ according to a press release from the organization. The
‘budget reforms’ AFP is addressing include Governor Walker’s limits on public sector collective bargaining as well as around
$749 million in cuts from K-12 public education and other ‘reforms,’ all of which inspired months of protest in 2011 and
recently led over 1 million Wisconsinites to sign petitions to recall the governor. With a recall election almost imminent, AFP
is holding ‘townhall’ events across the state to allegedly have a ‘respectful discussion on why we must maintain the reforms
that have saved hundreds of millions for Wisconsin taxpayers.’ The implication seems clear. The election of a governor other
than Walker would threaten the ‘reforms;’ his reelection would maintain them. And according to AFP, ‘we must maintain the
reforms.’ AFP is also spending $700,000 on a statewide TV ad campaign defending Walker’s reforms.” [Center for Media and
Democracy, 2/9/12]
• Americans For Prosperity Celebrated That Act 10 Cut $100 Million Per Year In Spending From Milwaukee
Public Schools. According to Americans for Prosperity It’s Still Working Wisconsin Budget Reform blog, “Act 10 is still