Talk of The Villages Florida - WI Gov Scott Walker recall.

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"This is a disaster," said Mark Miller, the Wisconsin Senate Democratic leader, in February after Republican Gov. Scott Walker proposed a budget bill that would curtail the collective bargaining powers of some public employees. Miller predicted catastrophe if the bill were to become law -- a charge repeated thousands of times by his fellow Democrats, union officials, and protesters in the streets.

Now the bill is law, and we have some very early evidence of how it is working. And for one beleaguered Wisconsin school district, it's a godsend, not a disaster.

The Kaukauna School District, in the Fox River Valley of Wisconsin near Appleton, has about 4,200 students and about 400 employees. It has struggled in recent times and this year faced a deficit of $400,000. But after the law went into effect, at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, school officials put in place new policies they estimate will turn that $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. And it's all because of the very provisions that union leaders predicted would be disastrous.

In the past, teachers and other staff at Kaukauna were required to pay 10 percent of the cost of their health insurance coverage and none of their pension costs. Now, they'll pay 12.6 percent of the cost of their coverage (still well below rates in much of the private sector) and also contribute 5.8 percent of salary to their pensions. The changes will save the school board an estimated $1.2 million this year, according to board President Todd Arnoldussen.....

....In the past, Kaukauna's agreement with the teachers union required the school district to purchase health insurance coverage from something called WEA Trust -- a company created by the Wisconsin teachers union. "It was in the collective bargaining agreement that we could only negotiate with them," says Arnoldussen. "Well, you know what happens when you can only negotiate with one vendor." This year, WEA Trust told Kaukauna that it would face a significant increase in premiums.

Now, the collective bargaining agreement is gone, and the school district is free to shop around for coverage. And all of a sudden, WEA Trust has changed its position. "With these changes, the schools could go out for bids, and lo and behold, WEA Trust said, 'We can match the lowest bid,'" says Republican state Rep. Jim Steineke, who represents the area and supports the Walker changes. At least for the moment, Kaukauna is staying with WEA Trust, but saving substantial amounts of money.....

Then there are work rules. "In the collective bargaining agreement, high school teachers only had to teach five periods a day, out of seven," says Arnoldussen. "Now, they're going to teach six." In addition, the collective bargaining agreement specified that teachers had to be in the school 37 1/2 hours a week. Now, it will be 40 hours.

The changes mean Kaukauna can reduce the size of its classes -- from 31 students to 26 students in high school and from 26 students to 23 students in elementary school. In addition, there will be more teacher time for one-on-one sessions with troubled students. Those changes would not have been possible without the much-maligned changes in collective bargaining.....

Union curbs rescue a Wisconsin school district | Washington Examiner

Report on WEA Trust, the WI teachers' union-owned insurance company from which state school districts were required to buy health insurance according to union contracts.......

A VERY PROFITABLE NON-PROFIT COMPANY

What does WEA Trust do with all the cash it rakes in?

A quick look through the company�s federal financial statements reveals a tax-exempt, non- profit company that makes a great deal of money.

At the end of 2008, WEA Trust reported total assets of $674,131,940. It�s reported net assets (total assets minus liabilities) were $316,837,155, a 15.1 percent increase from 2007.

The company�s financial portfolio would make any Wall Street capitalist proud. According to federal records it owns stock in several large, well known corporations that are traditionally hated by the labor movement, including Halliburton (Dick Cheney�s former company), News Corp. (owner of Fox News Channel), Wal- Mart Stores Inc. (which unions despise due to supposedly unfair employee compensation) and Goldman-Sachs.

WEA Trust�s top employees certainly make out well, by anyone�s measure.
The company�s CEO, Fred Evart, made $333,375 in salary in 2007, with a total compensation package of $469,522, according to tax records filed by the company.

Eleven employees under Evart received total compensation packages worth at least $181,792.

While technically they are separate entities, there�s little doubt that WEA Trust and WEAC, the labor union that founded it, maintain strong administrative and financial ties.

The organizations have the same home, at 33 Nob Hill Drive in Madison. Three members of the union�s �leadership team� - President Mary Bell, Director Amy Johnson and Director Suzanne Kahl - are also members of the WEA Trust board....."

The whole report is informative:

http://www.publicschoolspending.com/...nalreport1.pdf

Quote:

Posted by Guest (Post 473624)

The fact is, Walker is nothing more than a Koch Brothers lapdog who hates teachers, cops, and firemen. Walker's attempt to strip working men and women of their rights has met with failure.

"So long as the State of Wisconsin continues to afford ordinary certification and dues deductions to mandatory public safety unions with sweeping bargaining rights, there is no rational basis to deny those rights to voluntary general unions with severely restricted bargaining rights," the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin concluded.

This was just another attempt by the cons, bankrolled by the Koch bros. to turn worker against worker. This is typical con strategy - try to turn good men and women against each other, while waving the flag.

Even if Walker survives a recall, he is finished .......

"So long as the State of Wisconsin continues to afford ordinary certification and dues deductions to mandatory public safety unions with sweeping bargaining rights, there is no rational basis to deny those rights to voluntary general unions with severely restricted bargaining rights," the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin concluded."

Meaning, we need to wait until ALL the citizens of the state cannot afford this and the state is in dire need and THEN we will address the problem.

I suggest that those who support PUBLIC SECTOR unions, to read the eventual outcome of your fanatic opposition to allowing state and local governments do what YOU want them to do....

"People in the private sector are only just beginning to understand how much of a banquet public-sector unions have been having at everybody else�s expense (see article). In many rich countries wages are on average higher in the state sector, pensions hugely better and jobs far more secure. Even if many individual state workers do magnificent jobs, their unions have blocked reform at every turn. In both America and Europe it is almost as hard to reward an outstanding teacher as it is to sack a useless one."

The public sector unions: The battle ahead | The Economist

The minute YOU begin to lose services because those in public sector unions are demanding things AS IF THEY WORKED FOR A PROFIT MAKING ENTERPRISE you will begin to understand.