Union-busting bullies officially lose WI senate

The recall dust has finally settled in Wisconsin and union members can celebrate. Frequent liar Job killer Future jailbird Koch manservant Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union pals no longer control the state Senate!

Yesterday Racine GOP State Senator Van Wanggaard announced he will not file a lawsuit challenging the results of the recall election last month. Wanggaard lost by 800 votes to John Lehman who ran against Wanggaard and other Republicans who he said put “the target on the backs of teachers and public employees.”

This officially tips the scales in favor of Democrats who opposed Walker’s attack on collective bargaining rights last year. They now have a 17-16 edge in the senate.

Lehman’s reaction:

"I'm just happy that we're not putting the citizens through that," he said.

He added that now the senate could focus on creating jobs in a state that has lost more than 23,000 jobs under Walker:

“I’m very hopeful that Sen. [Mark] Miller and Sen. [Scott] Fitzgerald can get together with the leadership over in the Assembly and that we can move forward on some of these items that have to do with jobs development immediately, rather than waiting until January,” Lehman said.

As the AP reports:

Lehman said he hadn't heard of plans to try to reconvene the Legislature before the end of the year in an attempt to move on measures while the Democrats hold the Senate majority.

But Democratic Sen. Mark Miller, who will be the new Senate majority leader once Lehman is sworn into office within the next 10 days, suggested he would push for a special session to consider jobs legislation.

It may be a small victory. But for workers, it’s a step closer to reversing Walker’s union-busting policies and rescuing Wisconsin’s middle class.

-- Union Thug

Tea Partier slugs Solidarity Singer in WI

A Tea Partier punched a union supporter today, breaking a tooth, during the daily noon singalong in the Rotunda. Another Tea Partier in a wheelchair -- former state Sen. Dave Zien -- ran over people's feet, saying "Walker should be president."

Here's what happened, according to an eyewitness who posted on a Solidarity Singers' Facebook page:

There were 3 Tea Party protestors there during most of the hour of the sing along.  I was on the second floor balcony of the rotunda hanging one of those long vertical banners down...

The singing went on peacefully as it always does right up until the last few minutes, right before 1pm when the sing along is over. The teabaggers with the flag came onto the second floor and and hung their flag over the balcony and then they began walking around the circle holding their flag over the balcony. As they would encounter a participant in the sing along, they would just continue walking, and would drape their flag right over people's faces and/or banners if they were holding one. (Charming.) When these two men continued around the circle to where I was standing, holding my banner, I took a few steps away from the balcony edge still holding my banner as a way to prevent these men from putting their flag over me, but they continued to do it anyway.

Just as they were draping their flag across my face, a member of the sing along came over, told the men to stop it, and pulled their flag down. instantly, the shorter tea partier grabbed this guy in a headlock and punched him in the mouth which resulted in a broken tooth. The guy who got punched did not initiate any physical force against either of the tea partiers holding the flag, he just was grabbing and trying to pull down their flag, never touching either of the men until he was trying to get himself free from the headlock. Some more sing along people came over and tried to break up the fight. moments later the police came upstairs to assess the situation.

And here's a disturbing detail:

...several singers saw a fox news affiliate- fox 6 out of Milwaukee, and claimed that their cameras were rolling before the fight took place and that they may have it on video. There was some speculation that these people were hired or encouraged to come and cause trouble and disrupt our sing along, and they had the fox cameras there to record it as a way to put negative spin on the events at the capitol...

Above is a youtube video of a Solidarity Singalong last week.

Today's Teamster News 05.03.11

Return of Union-Busting: Wisconsin Republicans May Vote Again  firedoglake   ...Scott Walker’s team must be getting worried about their legal strategy in the case of the anti-union bill. Because now, there’s open talk about going back to the drawing board...
Budget changes add new union language  Associated Press   ...House Republican lawmakers in Ohio have inserted changes to their state budget proposal that nearly match provisions affecting teachers' pay already a part of a contentious new collective bargaining law...
Budget negotiators tuck union dues issue into budget deal   St. Petersburg Times   ...budget negotiators tonight have agreed to include a provision in the budget that paves the way for a ban on union dues for several state worker unions...
Scott's unpopularity worries some in GOP, but not him  Tampabay Online   ...A March 29 Public Policy Polling survey showed a 55 percent majority disapproval, and Scott was booed when he threw first pitches at ball games in Tampa and St. Petersburg...
Divided panel advances amended DeCoster bill eliminating workers' right to unionize  Sun Journal   ...the Legislature's Labor Committee backed an amended bill Friday that would eliminate workers' right to unionize at the DeCoster-owned Quality Egg farm in Turner...
Rock star joins labor movement  Politico   ...What we saw in Madison, what we’re seeing across the Midwest, I hope is a resurgence of a vital and vibrant working class movement that is not going to be beholden to either corporate or governmental interests...
Patrick pledges Massachusetts will not follow Wisconsin's lead on collective bargaining  WisPolitics.com   ...“It’s not happening on my watch,”...

Wisco: "Worst type of favoritism there could be"

We're hearing that there may be a floor vote on Gov. Scott Walker's insane budget proposal as soon as Thursday!

People are mobilizing as never before. All week long, there will be rallies, vigils, news conferences and lobby days. The Teamsters are engaged, as we represent corrections officers, law enforcement officers, snowplow drivers, 911 dispatchers, public health nurses, zookeepers, crossing guards -- to name a few -- in Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, questions are being raised in the news media (as if there's a question!) about whether Walker is paying back his political backers. The Associated Press reports that some unions that supported Walker's campaign -- firefighters, police officers and state troopers -- are exempt from his draconian efforts to lower pay by 9 percent and eliminate nearly all collective bargaining rights. Reports the AP,

Walker has introduced a bill that would strip public employees across the board — from teachers to snowplow drivers — of their right to collectively bargain for sick leave, vacation, even the hours they work. But absolutely nothing would change for local police, fire departments and the State Patrol.


The bill smacks of political favoritism for public safety unions that supported Walker's election bid last year and sets up new haves and have-nots in Wisconsin government, said Paul Secunda, a Marquette University professor who specializes in labor law.

"That's called 'thank you, I got your back,'" Secunda said. "There's no surprise there. This is the worst type of favoritism there could be."

There's lots you can do online to fight this savage attack on the middle class, even if you sit at a computer all day.

Go to OneWisconsinNow.org and sign a petition against the budget.

Go to the http://www.notmywisconsin.com/ website and sign up for email alerts.

Join the Teamsters' "STOP Right to Work (for LESS) Facebook page. Or post this as your status on your own Facebook page: Let's see how many people would be negatively affected by Scott Walker's "nuclear option" of eliminating 50 years of peaceful collective bargaining in Wisconsin.

If you live in Wisconsin, or have a friend of family member who does, here's the Legislature's website where you can find out who to email or call to oppose Walker's budget: legis.wisconsin.gov.