Doyle says state union contracts should proceed

Gov.-elect Scott Walker, read Governor Jim Doyle's lips, it would be ILLEGAL for the State of Wisconsin to stop ongoing negotiations.

Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday that he is proceeding with labor pacts with state unions in his final weeks in office because they had been under negotiation for months and that stopping the process would be illegal...

Read the full article >>>

Posted by Steven Williams
PEL Coordinator
AFSCME Council 24

AFSCME Lobbyists Outline WSEU Contracts

Monday, November 29, 2010 - Posted 11/30/2010

To: Interested Legislators
From: Susan McMurray and John Grabel, AFSCME Government Relations
Re: Summary of Key Items in the 2009-2011 State Employee Contracts

We’ve been asked to provide some information about the tentative agreement reached between the state Office of Employment Relations (OSER) and the Wisconsin State Employees Union (WSEU-AFSCME Council 24).

On Wednesday, November 24, 2010, the State and AFSCME Council 24 reached a tentative agreement (TA) on contracts for 2009-2011, after months of difficult negotiations.

The contracts between the State and workers cover five state bargaining units represented by AFSCME: professional social services (PSS), blue collar (BC), administrative support (AS), technical (Tech) and Security and Public Safety (SPS).

Here are some key points to keep in mind:

• These contracts contain zero pay increases and no market adjustments.
• The contracts have a 6.9% employee share health care premium increase.
• The contracts require an increase in the employee pension contribution (between .2% - .8%).
  State employees had 16 furlough days in 2009-2011 biennium, which was a 3.25% pay reduction. This contract underscores the furlough arrangement.
• These contracts cover the period of the last budget (July 2009 - June 2011), not the budget to be created by Governor-elect Walker and the next legislature.
• The incoming governor will have the opportunity to negotiate contracts for the period coinciding with the budget he will propose.
• These contracts are accounted for in the current budget passed by this legislature and governor.

OSER representatives soon will brief legislative leaders on the proposed contracts, providing leaders with information from the employer perspective.

Thank you for your attention and consideration. Feel free to contact Susan at 608-279-9697 or John at 608-279-9093 for more information.

WisPolitics: Special session on state worker contracts moving ahead

At this very hour bargaining conference delegates are learning about the details of the recently tentatively agreed upon state employee contracts. A vote on each of the TA's for each of the WSEU bargaining unit's is expected today.

WisPolitics.com: WisPolitics: Special session on state worker contracts moving ahead

Gov.-elect Walker urges lawmakers to stop work on union contracts

Democrats provide the real truth about the present negotiations involving the state employees.

"The contracts currently under consideration by the unions were already budgeted for in the '09 biennial budget, with money already held in the state compensation reserves," the statement read. "They contain no pay increases or other changes that would adversely impact the current state budget."

State Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison, said Republicans are attempting to make something nefarious out of the workers' contracts.

"But these workers have been dutifully performing their jobs every day for 18 months, without a contract, based on money that has already been budgeted," he said.

Learn more about what is being said on both sides by clicking on the title link.

Sen. Fitzgerald and Rep. Fitzgerald Support Walkers Call for Dems to Not Hold Special Legislative Session on State Employee Union Contracts

Earlier today Gov.-elect Walker sent a letter to the legislative leaders of both houses asking them to not call the Wisconsin Legislature back into special session to approve state employee contracts.

Now, both Minority Leaders of the Wisconsin Senate and Wisconsin Assembly support Walker's call and are implying that the state employee contracts are being done behind closed doors.

Read all of their respective communications:

• Gov.-elect Scott Walker Letter
• Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald Statement
• Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald Statement

Employer-sponsored health insurance declining in Wisconsin

COWS (Center On Wisconsin Strategy) has released a report on Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance in Wisconsin. This reports comes on the heels of a research paper issued on November 16, 2010 by the Economic Policy Institute, a think-tank from Washiongton, DC.

While all of our members have negotiated for health insurance coverage there is an alarming trend occuring all across America that needs to be stopped and that is the declining number of employees being covered by an employer-sponsored health insurance plan.

Read the research paper of the Economic Policy Institute >>>

Read the report of the Center On Wisconsin Strategy >>>

"Please Delay Action on These Contracts" the words of Scott Walker...

Today, Gov.-elect Walker continued his interference with the sitting Administration and Legislature by writing to them and asking them to "not convene an extraordinary or special session of the Wisconsin Legislature to approve yet-to-be-disclosed public employee union contracts."

He went further on in his letter to imply threats for more aggressive spending cuts if the public employee union contracts are approved.

Read his entire letter >>>