It PASSED! Wisconsin runs by dictatorship not vote!

Well if people were marching and protesting off the prospects of a bill, what will happen now that Wisconsin Statehouse passed the bill without the Democratic opposition being present, and loads of workers petitioning against it? I’ll tell you what?! Shit WILL HIT THE FAN!

Wisconsin Legislature strips state workers of bargaining rights

By Eric W. Dolan

The Republican-led Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill to bust public workers unions Thursday afternoon, after Republican state senators managed to bypass Senate Democrats who fled the state and pass the legislation Wednesday night.

The bill to strip public employee unions of collective bargaining rights was passed by a 53 to 42 vote in the Assembly and will now head to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s office.

Walker said he would sign the bill into law “as quickly as we can legally.”

In mid-February, 14 Democratic state senators left Wisconsin to avoid having to vote on the budget repair bill. There are 19 Republican senators, but the Senate needs a minimum of 20 members to be present to debate and vote on any bills that spend money.

While the 14 Democratic senators remained in Illinois, Republican state senators removed all references to spending from the bill and passed the proposal to limit public employees’ collective bargaining rights.

Rest of story here:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/09/wisconsin-senate-strips-state-workers-of-bargaining-rights/

Labor Union fight heads to Indiana

 

Tens of thousands gather at Indiana’s statehouse to support workers’ rights

 By Stephen C. Webster

Facing down icy conditions, tens of thousands of union workers and supporters gathered outside Indiana’s statehouse Thursday to protest a bill that would strip all union workers of their bargaining rights.

Like in Wisconsin, a number of the state’s elected Democrats have fled, preventing a vote from taking place. Also like Wisconsin, the protests have only grown in recent weeks.

According to organizers, Thursday’s protest was the biggest of them all, possibly even eclipsing a 1995 union protest that many have called the largest in Indiana’s history.

An AFL-CIO organizer echoed the sentiment, telling a local television station they expected over 25,000 on Thursday.

The state’s Republicans want to turn Indiana into a “right to work” state like Texas, where workers are essentially prohibited from organizing to bargain with their managers

Rest of story:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/10/tens-of-thousands-gather-at-indianas-statehouse-to-support-workers-rights/

Wisconsin di-k measuring is coming to an end!

The protests, marches, and peaceful gatherings and caused the Wisconsin (what’s left over) government to come to a compromise. Yup they are giving in. The Democrats said along with the citizens ours is bigger and the republicans are admitting it. I pray one day we will have politicians that actually are put in to pass laws that are there to improve our life and benefit it, versus trying to have a “who’s better?” competition with the competing party. Which case, the competing party does the exact same thing!

(Reuters) – Absent senate Democrats in Wisconsin are talking with the majority Republicans about possible compromises aimed at ending a stalemate over a bill to strip public sector unions of bargaining rights.

In a telephone interview with his hometown Green Bay Press-Gazette, Democratic Senator Dave Hansen said negotiations on a compromise to bring the senators back for a vote may involve preserving some union bargaining rights.

One area under discussion would allow unions to continue to negotiate on workplace safety issues and another might extend the interval between union recertification votes to two years from every year, Hansen told the newspaper.

“I’m disappointed they wouldn’t give us that one (the safety issue) out of hand. It makes as much sense as anything. But we continue to discuss it and hopefully soon we’ll come to an agreement,” Hansen told the Press-Gazette.

“I know we won’t get all that we want, but we’re trying to get as much as we can.”

The compromise may entail voting on the budget repair bill as is, then passing a second bill or additions to the biennial budget that would preserve some collective bargaining rights.

But Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller was quoted in the newspaper as saying the 14 Democratic senators are no closer to returning for a vote than they were a week ago

(Reporting by Jeff Mayers; Writing by Andrew Stern; Editing by Jerry Norton)

Read rest of article below:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/03/us-wisconsin-budget-idUSTRE72041C20110303

UPDATE: Police join protests in Wisconsin

Oh shit! We are going to have little Egypt in US here soon if this doesn’t get under control.

BREAKING: Wisconsin Police Have Joined Protest Inside State Capitol

Written by Jenn Breckenridge

From inside the Wisconsin State Capitol, RAN ally Ryan Harvey reports:

“Hundreds of cops have just marched into the Wisconsin state capitol building to protest the anti-Union bill, to massive applause. They now join up to 600 people who are inside.”

Ryan reported on his Facebook page earlier today:

“Police have just announced to the crowds inside the occupied State Capitol of Wisconsin: ‘We have been ordered by the legislature to kick you all out at 4:00 today. But we know what’s right from wrong. We will not be kicking anyone out, in fact, we will be sleeping here with you!’ Unreal.”

http://understory.ran.org/2011/02/25/breaking-wisconsin-police-have-joined-protest-inside-state-capitol/