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Wisconsin governor wins his battle with unions on collective bargaining

By Karen Tumulty, Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 11, 2011; 11:18 AM

Protestors rally against anti-union bill. Photo, Washington Post

See Gallery of photos at Washington Post

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has won his drive to strip the state’s government workers of nearly all of their collective-bargaining rights, prevailing after a three-week standoff that brought tens of thousands of protesters to the Capitol and transfixed the political world.

The new legislation, which Walker signed into law Friday, represents a major setback for organized labor, but the political battle over public employees and their rights to bargain is likely to continue – not only in Madison. Read the rest of this entry »

Recall Scott Walker

A MESSAGE FROM OUR NATIONAL UNION, AFSCME ABOUT HOW TO HELP FIGHT BACK

Dear UDW/AFSCME Sisters and Brothers,

What happened last night in Wisconsin is truly a travesty. Instead of pulling his state together to confront its challenges, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker chose to tear it apart.

After losing in the court of public opinion, after ignoring the hundreds of thousands of citizens who have been protesting this bill since it was introduced last month, and after failing to break the Democratic senators’ principled stand to block this measure, Wisconsin Senate Republicans used legislative tricks to ram through Governor Walker’s bill — wiping out collective bargaining rights for nurses, teachers, EMTs and other trusted public employees. It was an affront to everyone who believes in basic American values like fairness, democracy and rights for working people. Read the rest of this entry »

San Diego: UDW Co-Sponsors conference on labor activism

Tom Gustafson, Issue date: 3/8/11
City Times

Students, unionists, and other community members and activists attended “Labor and Community in Times of Crisis,” a day long conference in the Education Technology Center on March 4.

Discussion panels were chaired primarily by City College faculty. From “Maquiladora Workers’ Struggle” with Chicano Studies professor Enrique Davalos to “Women in Labor” with labor studies coordinator Kelly Mayhew and “Student Activism” with political science professor Larissa Dorman, the panels discussed a diverse array of issues.

According to a promotional flyer, the conference was geared toward fostering “connections between workers in different unions, workers centers, communities, industries and countries to strengthen the movement – from the bottom up.” Read the rest of this entry »

Wis. GOP bypasses Dems, cuts collective bargaining

Yahoo News, Associated Press Newswire, March 9, 2011

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Senate voted Wednesday night to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers, approving an explosive proposal that had rocked the state and unions nationwide after Republicans discovered a way to bypass the chamber’s missing Democrats.

All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget-repair bill” — a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall. Read the rest of this entry »

Wisconsin GOP Senators Pass Stand-Alone Anti-Union Bill Without Democrats Present

THE HUFFINGTON POST, March 9 2011

WASHINGTON — In a bold gambit to put an end to the weeks-long budget standoff in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) split his controversial budget-repair bill in two on Wednesday, allowing the Senate to pass the most hotly contested provisions while their 14 Democratic colleagues remained out of state.

The parliamentary maneuver, first reported by local press, allowed the anti-collective bargaining measure to pass with just Republican support. Under Wisconsin law a 3/5s quorum is needed for a statute that is fiscal in nature. No such quorum is needed for non-fiscal matters. Read the rest of this entry »

Budget Vote Delayed; Brown asks legislature for more time

CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK: Advocacy Without Borders
CDCAN DISABILITY RIGHTS REPORT #073-2011 – MARCH 09, 2011 – WEDNESDAY

State Budget Crisis:

BUDGET VOTE DELAYED – GOVERNOR BROWN ASKS LEGISLATURE FOR MORE TIME – SAYS TALKS WITH REPUBLICAN MEMBERS PROGRESSING

SACRAMENTO, CALIF (CDCAN) [Updated 03/09/2011 – 04:55 PM (Pacific Time) – Governor Brown today asked the Assembly and State Senate to delay a vote on the 2011-2012 State budget that was scheduled for Thursday because his talks with a group of Republican legislators is showing some progress. Read the rest of this entry »

Budget Vote likely on Thursday

CDCAN DISABILITY RIGHTS REPORT
#072-2011 – MARCH 08, 2011 – TUESDAY

State Budget Crisis:

BUDGET VOTE IN ASSEMBLY & STATE SENATE LIKELY ON THURSDAY – SPENDING CUTS COULD BE PUT UP FOR A SEPARATE VOTE

Governor and Legislative Democrats Still Don’t Have Necessary Republican Votes Yet To Pass Revenue Piece of Budget Plan – Harry Cota, Lead Plaintiff in Federal Lawsuit That Blocked 2009 Adult Day Health Care Cuts Dies of Cancer At Age 61 Just Days After Writing Letter to Governor Pleading That Adult Day Health Care Program Be Spared From Elimination Read the rest of this entry »

For IHSS Consumers: Toll Free Teleconference on proposed budget changes

IHSS Consumer Conference Call
featuring Deborah Doctor
Legislative Advocate, Disability Rights California

See/Download Flyer

Join the Personal Assistance Services Council (PASC) for a teleconference on Governor Brown’s proposed cuts/changes to the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Program, including updates and information on additional proposals made by the state senate and assembly.

When: Wednesday, March 9th, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Call In: 1-866-885-0409
Conference ID 565591 Read the rest of this entry »

Legislature readies for budget vote; Democrats need to court Republican votes to move special election forward

Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Posted: 03/05/2011 01:30:10 AM PST

A state budget conference committee approved a package of bills Thursday that will come before lawmakers next week.

Now the real fun begins, as Democrats and the governor press and haggle for a total of five Republican votes — two in the Assembly and three in the Senate — needed to pass the package and place a number of tax extension measures before voters in a June special election.

The packages are tentatively expected to come to votes in both the Senate and the Assembly on Wednesday, in advance of the March 10 deadline set by Gov. Jerry Brown. Read the rest of this entry »

Marin Voice: Cutting in-home support for disabled and elderly is penny smart and pound foolish

By Madeline Kellner, Guest op-ed column
Posted: 03/06/2011 05:00:00 AM PST, Marin Independent Journal

GOV. JERRY BROWN has taken the state fiscal crisis head on with his proposed budget for next year.

No more smoke and mirrors. No more pushing forward the hard decisions to future leaders.

However, there is one set of proposed cuts that will cost the state and its taxpayers more in the long run and leave a wake of human suffering: cutting In-Home Supportive Services.

More than 400,000 disabled and elderly Californians receive services through the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, allowing them to stay safely and independently in their homes. Bringing it closer to Marin, the governor’s proposal to reduce IHSS services will have a serious impact on the 1,600 Marin residents who rely on this program. Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Moore in Wisconsin: America is not broke

Published in Huffington Post, March 6, 2011

Speech delivered at Wisconsin Capitol in Madison,
March 5, 2011
Also see/hear speech; video posted below

America is not broke.

Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you’ll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It’s just that it’s not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.

Read the rest of this entry »

New technology helps to save lives; money

California Progress Report, March 7, 2011
By Gary Passmore, Congress of California of Seniors

Save Lives and Dollars

Nearly everyone in California has been affected by the nation’s deep recession and the state’s budget crisis, but our seniors even more so. For those fortunate enough to have socked away money for retirement, many lost nearly everything as a result of a market crash created on Wall Street, life savings that will never come back. Services that keep the poorest seniors out of poverty have been severely eroded as the state grapples with its budget mess.

Those who lived through the Great Depression remember what it was like before a safety net was created to keep seniors out of food lines and to provide the most basic medical care. We know how important it is for California to get back on track and protect the safety net for very poor seniors, and we know doing so will require more sacrifice. Read the rest of this entry »

Message from the Frontlines: How you can support Wisconsin workers

March 3, 2011
From your international union, AFSCME

There are new developments in Ohio and Wisconsin that we want to share with you. As you know, what happens in the coming weeks and months in Columbus and Madison will be critical to the future of our union, our jobs, and the services that we provide everywhere.

In Ohio yesterday, after more than 20,000 Ohioans rallied on Tuesday to save the middle class, the State Senate passed SB 5 — a bill that will strip workers of their rights. It was politics at its worst: Republican leaders rammed this bill through by kicking opposing members of their own party off of key committees. Read the rest of this entry »

Budget Conference Committee Approves Unspecified $128.3 Million IHSS Reduction in State General Fund Spending – Details to be Determined

CDCAN DISABILITY RIGHTS REPORT
#071-2011 – MARCH 03, 2011 – THURSDAY

State Budget Crisis:

Amount Is Part of Overall Targeted Reduction of $486.1 Million Cut In State General Fund Spending for IHSS Program – Budget Conference Committee Leaves Open for Now Governor’s Proposals For Additional Across-The-Board Reduction in IHSS Hours & Elimination of Domestic & Related Services & Proposals to Achieve Needed Savings Without More Spending Cuts Read the rest of this entry »

Budget Conference Committee Takes Action on IHSS: Much Work Yet to be Done

The State Legislature’s Budget Conference Committee concluded its work on the proposed IHSS budget cuts Thursday afternoon. By a 6 to 4 vote (with all Democrats voting yes and all Republicans no) the Committee agreed to meet the $486 million savings target for IHSS for the 2011-2012 budget by taking the following actions: Read the rest of this entry »

California Organizations Call On Legislators to Support Governor Brown’s Revenue Proposals

By The Health and Human Services Network of California

The Health and Human Services Network of California recently collected signatures from dozens of organizations all across the state urging Democratic legislators to continue to support Governor Brown’s $12 billion revenue package.

Non-profits, health and human services providers, and advocacy organizations from every corner of California signed on to the letter in hopes of encouraging legislators to pass the Governor’s revenue proposals and allow them to go before California voters in the June Special Election.

These modest and reasonable revenues represent the bare minimum that California needs to maintain core government services. Even with these revenues, California’s most vulnerable citizens will still suffer tremendously as the result of $12 billion in dangerous and potentially life-threatening cuts to vital health care and social services programs, including Medi-Cal, CalWORKS, IHSS, child-care and others. Without these revenues, the pain will be twice as bad. Read the rest of this entry »

Balancing the budget: Making the weak pay

by Ryan E. Smith, Contributing Writer
March 1, 2011 Jewish Journal.com

Sylvia Mnuchen has spent her life fighting.

First it was cancer that attacked her skin, then her breast. More recently it has been an ailment that has kept her in a wheelchair, her feet swollen, her legs wrapped tight like a mummy.

But as a loyal Jewish Democrat and longtime advocate of social justice, she never thought she would find herself fighting Jerry Brown, a man she voted for three times for governor. Yet the 94-year-old is suddenly on the wrong side of Brown’s proposed budget cuts that would slash state spending by $12.5 billion, ripping a hole in numerous social service programs and eliminating others entirely.

Payouts for Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, would be reduced by $1.7 billion. The welfare-to-work program CalWORKs would be cut by $1.5 billion. Other programs assisting the elderly and disabled would be affected, too.

Legislators are working on a budget agreement with the governor and expect it to be ready for a vote early this month.

Brown has called it “a tough budget for tough times.” To Mnuchen and other social service advocates in the Jewish community, though, it would only make tough times tougher.

“It’s a terrible situation,” she said. Read Full Story

It’s About Freedom! — LA Rally’s for Wisconsin

This is really about Wall Street and Big Corporations against the working class and their unions”

Scores of protesters hit the streets on February 27, 2011 in front of the Los Angeles City Hall to stand by the workers of Wisconsin.

Staff and elected officers from UDW stood together with members, IHSS providers, family, and many community supporters:

People who attended & in pictures;
Laura Reyes (UDW President) Lien Tuong Rose Nguyen (UDW Secretary Treasurer) Donta Harrison (Regional Coordinator) Raul Romero (Lead Organizer) Ly Nguyen (Lead Organizer) Miguel Mondragon (Organizer) Janet Avila (Administrative Support Staff) Cesar Chaves (Organizer - in photo at left) Catalina Andrade (UDW member) Javier Lara (UDW member) Read the rest of this entry »

Public Employee Pension Reform Issue Focus of Joint Legislative Committee Hearing At 09:00 AM – Issue Critical Toward A Budget Deal With Republicans

CDCAN DISABILITY RIGHTS REPORT #062-2011 – MARCH 02, 2011 – EARLY WEDNESDAY
CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK

State Budget Crisis:

Budget Conference Committee Won’t Meet During Public Pension Reform Informational Hearing – Next Budget Conference Committee Hearing Date Not Certain But Major Issues Remain To Resolve Including Governor’s Proposal to Eliminate Adult Day Health Care, Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), Realignment of State Services to Counties, Proposed Elimination of Redevelopment Agencies Read the rest of this entry »

Improving Language Access to Keep California’s Older Adults at Home: An Examination of the In-Home Supportive Services Program

National Senior Citizens Law Center
This NSCLC report contains findings and recommendations to improve the experiences of limited English proficient consumers of California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) personal care program. Download Report at NSCLC website