Legislative Time Is Running Short

With the legislative session coming to a close in April AFSCME will be working hard to push through the dozens of bills that members advocated for on lobby day. The ground work you all laid will go a long way toward accomplishing that goal. Thanks again to all who came to Madison and made this lobby day such a roaring success.

For more information, contact the AFSCME lobbyists at 608-836-6666.

Authority: Susan McMurray, AFSCME Wisconsin Lobbyist

Listen to Scott Walker Talk About Your Future

Madison area leaders and members should note that radio host Sly will have gubernatorial candidate Walker on his program on Tuesday, 3/16 at 8:35 a.m. to quiz him about his position on state employees, their wages, benefits and outsourcing. This could prove to be a very interesting half hour. Sly indicates he may even accept phone calls during the segment. We strongly encourage you to tune in to WTDY, AM 1670 and listen to Scott Walker talk about your future if elected, and if the opportunity presents itself, call in with your thoughts. You can also listen live online by visiting: http://www.wtdy.com/.

Its Rally Day!

Please Attend if You Can

Scott Walker is at it again! He is laying off more AFSCME members and he is privatizing their jobs.

Please join us to rally against the actions of Scott Walker.

WHEN: Friday, March 12th / 11:30am - 1:00pm
WHERE: Clas Park - 10th & Wells Street, Milwaukee
(South end of the Milwaukee County Courthouse)

Please wear something RED if at all possible. Friday's are AFSCME's "WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND SEEING RED DAYS!"

AFSCME green will do as a suitable alternative, but most importantly, having you there to support our brothers and sisters of AFSCME Council 48 is the ultimate objective.

In Solidarity,

Jana Weaver, Assistant Director
AFSCME Council 24

Jeffrey Johnson, SEPAC Chair
AFSCME Council 24 Local 2748

Protect Our Conservation Wardens

Our AFSCME Conservation Wardens and actually ALL law enforcement officers are being placed at great risk because of Senate Bill 222. This legislative bill has been silently creeping through the legislative process, but now it has caught our attention and all of us need to help our brother's and sister's who are Conservation Wardens and actually all law enforcement officers. There is no reasonable justification to have to transport an uncased firearm.

Senate Bill 222 would also allow for a delay in tagging and leave unattended, a harvested deer and we truly believe this measure would promote poaching and theft of harvested deer.

With a couple clicks of your mouse you can help us stop forward movement on Senate Bill 222. Please click on the "TITLE" of this post to start the process.

Authority:

Susan Miller, President
AFSCME Council 24 Local 1215

Marty Beil, Executive Director
AFSCME Council 24

Scott Walker is at it again!

He is laying off more AFSCME members and he is privatizing their jobs

AFSCME is being joined by other Milwaukee area labor unions and you are asked to join us all in a RALLY to support our AFSCME Council 48 brothers and sisters.

We need for you to join us and tell Scott Walker what we really think!

These actions by Scott Walker is the definite crystal ball showing us the future as state employees if he is elected Governor...

WHEN: Friday, March 12th / 11:30am - 1:00pm
WHERE: Clas Park - 10th & Wells Street, Milwaukee
(South end of the Milwaukee County Courthouse)

Please wear something RED if at all possible. Friday's are AFSCME's "WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND SEEING RED DAYS!"

AFSCME green will do as a suitable alternative, but most importantly, having you there to support our brothers and sisters of AFSCME Council 48 is the ultimate objective.

In Solidarity,

Jana Weaver, Assistant Director
AFSCME Council 24

Jeffrey Johnson, SEPAC Chair
AFSCME Council 24 Local 2748

-----
Steven Williams
Political Education Legislative Coordinator
AFSCME Council 24
(608) 269-0307
swilliams@wseu-24.org

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Online Community

The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO is building an online community and SEPAC would like to make you aware of it.

You can find the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO in cyberspace at the following locations:

Website: http://wisaflcio.org
Blog: http://wisaflcio.typepad.com
Flickr Page: http://flickr.com/wisaflcio
Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/wisaflcio
Twitter Page: http://twitter.com/wisaflcio

Thank You Note from Marty Beil

There was another tremendous showing of union solidarity and concern for public services on Wednesday. Well over 500 AFSCME members and leaders came to Madison and spent time meeting face to face with legislators on critical issues such as outsourcing, disability eligibility, and collective bargaining for protective status to name just a few. Credit goes to the International and Take Back staff for hosting a well organized and effective event. More importantly, tremendous credit goes to all of you who took time from your work and personal lives and came to Madison to deal with issues that affect all of our futures. It was a great day and a job well done.

I personally wish to extend my thanks to everyone who attended and worked to handle all of the logistics of this event.

In Solidarity,

Marty Beil
Executive Director
AFSCME Council 24 AFL-CIO

Poll Questions and Results

Period: 02/05/2010 through 02/26/2010

We recently finished two polls where we asked visitor's to the SEPAC blog to vote. Below are the results of those polls;

Question #1 (72 votes cast)

Do you vote based on issues or the candidate's political affiliation?
Answer Choices:

Based on Issues = 35 (48%)
Political Affiliation = 1 (1%)
Both Criteria = 35 (48%)
I Do Not Care = 1 (1%)

Question #2 (75 votes cast)

If the election were today, would you vote for Tom Barrett or Scott Walker?

Answer Choices:

Tom Barrett = 54 (70%)
Scott Walker = 7 (9%)
Not Decided = 7 (9%)
Do Not Know Either Candidate = 9 (11%)

Contact Steven Williams (swilliams@wseu-24.org) with any questions about these polls.

NO WINDOW for Early Retirement

Recently an opinion was written in a newspaper in southeastern Wisconsin that spoke about a possible early retirement window for state employees.

Here is why this opinion is just that, an opinion;

There has been absolutely no discussion from the Governor or Legislative leaders about an early retirement program or window. A major part of the reason is that the retirement system is a merged system (basically all public employees in Wisconsin). State law provides that use of the trust fund for benefit change must accrue to all participants. The only way that an early window for State employees could happen is that the change would have to be funded by GPR (General Purpose Revenue) which is what the State has a deficit in. It would cost millions of dollars in GPR to fund an early retirement window for State workers.

Hopefully, this brief explanation will squelch any rumors amongst public sector workers.

Your State Pension Under Attack

Executive Director Beil Blast's Opponents of State Pension Plan
Defends Public Sector Workers

Marty Beil - State Pensions Under Attack
Posted by SLY IN THE MORNING at 7:45 AM

Scott Walker and right-wing radio want to blame State pensions for the budget mess despite Wisconsin having one of the best run pension programs in the country. State employees make lower wages in exchange for a secure but modest retirement and its saves taxpayer money in the long run. Listen to AFSCME Council 24 Executive Director Marty Beil (http://slysoffice.blogspot.com/search?q=State+Pensions).

Listen to the radio show - Approximately 38 minutes
http://slysoffice.blogspot.com/search?q=State+Pensions

AFSCME Council 48 Members in Milwaukee County Need Your Help!

AFSCME Council 48 members (Milwaukee County employees) need the help of AFSCME members all across Wisconsin.

County Executive Scott Walker, to date, has failed to provide proper funding levels for and commitment to, protecting and preserving Milwaukee County parks. He claims "lack of revenue" as his reason for making all of the drastic cuts to proper funding of the parks.

In November voters passed a referendum to create a 0.5% sales tax to collect revenue to fund the parks and remove the claim of Executive Walker that there is not proper funding for the parks. However, this referendum has affect only by means of a legislative bill. AB504 was introduced as that bill, but it currently sits stalled in the Joint Committee on Finance.

With just a few clicks of your mouse you can support our brothers and sisters of AFSCME Council 48. So please, start "clicking" away!

Authority: Jana Weaver, Assistant Director
AFSCME Council 24 AFL-CIO

Updated Bus Schedule for Lobby Day

The bus schedule has been updated and is available for viewing at www.wseu-sepac.org/lobbyday_2010.htm.

Please contact your Take Back America Staff or send an e-mail (info@wiafscme.org) with name, phone number, address and local if you would like to attend. Please also indicate if you will be taking the bus. The bus schedule is available on the SEPAC and Council 11 Websites.

See you on Wednesday!

UPDATED Lobby Day Bus Schedule as of 02/26/2010

TWO NEW changes in the AFSCME Lobby Day bus schedule is a revised pickup location in Oshkosh and a Madison bus has now been ADDED. The Madison bus will transport lobby day participants from AFSCME Headquarters to the Masonic Temple.

Review the lobby day bus schedule as of 02/26/2010 >>>
Learn more about the AFSCME Lobby Day at the SEPAC website >>>

WPRI Report Erroneous About the Wisconsin Retirement System

WPRI Says Public Sector Workers are a Drain on Taxpayers

The right wing think tank; an obvious arm of the Walker campaign, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute issued a report on Wednesday that erroneously spoke about the high value of the Wisconsin Retirement System and public employee pensions. As you read both the report and the summary it makes every public employee’s blood boil. It’s the same mantra about how public employees should work for minimum wage, have no pension and be just like workers in Alabama or Mississippi. The report also said public employees do not deserve the pensions that they get and that they are a drain on the taxpayers.

We have issued a press release and been on talk radio in the Madison area. We would suggest that as your local newspapers begin to report the story that public employees, whether state, county, school or city all respond in kind about the inaccurate information and conclusions made in the report. The real irony of the report is that 3 of the 6 members of the board of directors for this institute are receiving benefits from the Wisconsin Retirement System; they got theirs, but you can’t get yours kind of philosophy.

This is all a prelude to the political elections coming this fall. The only thing missing from this report is the disclaimer on the bottom that it was authorized and paid for by Scott Walker for Governor. There is no coincidence that the findings of the report parrot what Scott Walker has been saying publicly about state employees and their benefits. If there is anyone out there that is a public employee that thinks that Scott Walker will be good for state workers and programs that they are involved in, they need to get their head examined.

Read the AFSCME Council 24 press release >>>
Read the Milwaukee Journel Sentinel news story >>>

Authority: Martin Beil, Executive Director
AFSCME Council 24 AFL-CIO

AFSCME Wisconsin Lobby Day

March 3rd, 2010
State Capitol

Lobby Day is our chance to walk the walk in the fight against privatization, to stand up for fairness at the bargaining table, and to explain to elected officials that quality public services are essential for economic recovery.

Motorcoach buses will converge on Madison for registration from 9-10 am. We will have you heading home no later than 3pm.

Checkout the SEPAC website for the bus schedules and the lobby day issues:
http://www.wseu-sepac.org/lobbyday_2010.htm

It is not too late to still join the hundreds of AFSCME members who will attend this lobby day. Simply send an email with your name, address and local union number to; info@wiafscme.org or call the AFSCME C11 office at 608-836-6666 if you have any questions!