Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters EWS CLIPS September 21, 2012 Randall Brassell, Director of Communications Telephone: 615-521-4097 (Fax) 615-824-2164 Email: [email protected] Wisconsin Judge Strikes Down Collective Bargaining Restrictions By Jim Malewitz , Staff Writer A county judge in Wisconsin has thrown out most of Governor Scott Walker’s law that severely restricts collective bargaining for public employees, throwing into question changes to contracts already negotiated under the year-old law. In a ruling announced late Friday (September 14), Judge Juan Colás of Dane County Circuit Court overturned the law as it applied to city, county and school district workers, but not to state workers, who were not among the lawsuit’s plaintiffs. Colás said provisions prohibiting local governments from bargaining with union workers over issues such as wage increases, health benefits, pensions and work conditions violated the state and federal constitutions. Under the decision, unions could presumably head back to the bargaining tables with their government employers, perhaps undoing major concessions included in their current contracts. That could spell financial trouble for local governments which, in exchange for the eroded bargaining rights, receive less money from the state. “The impact could be dramatic,” Don Hietpas, chief financial officer for the Appleton Area School District, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette . As Stateline reported earlier this year, the loss of state money under the new law outweighed what some local governments gained from contract negotiations. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Saturday the state will appeal the ruling, calling Walker’s law “constitutional in all respects.” The state will also seek a stay of the decision to keep the law in effect during continuing litigation, he said. “We are confident that the state will ultimately prevail in the appeals process,” said Walker , calling the decision the workings of a “liberal activist judge.” Walker’s law, which led to mass protests in Wisconsin and in other states where GOP-majority legislatures were pushing similar crackdowns on union power, Judge Colás said, violated union members’ rights to free speech and expression and equal protection under the law because it created different classes of workers. The law applied only to those who had joined unions, except for police and firefighters, who retained their bargaining rights regardless of their associations. “The statute limits what local governments may offer their employees solely because of that association,” the judge wrote. Labor groups cheered the ruling, calling it a victory for workers’ rights. “This is a good day for Wisconsin’s working people and the union movement,” Stephanie Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO,said in a statement . “When workers choose to join together for mutual aid and protection, their employer should honor their choice, come to the table and discuss wages and working conditions.” The case is likely to reach the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority. Last year, the court upheld the law amid a challenge on procedural grounds. Ryan Runs Into the Truth By Jim Hightower To borrow from President Lyndon Johnson's colorful analysis of a Nixon speech, "I may not know much, but I know chicken [poop] from chicken salad." Paul Ryan, the GOP's current vice-presidential nominee, has spent his career in government trying to blur the boundary between the two. Over the years, the ambitious right-wing politico has carefully assembled a stinking salad of positive adjectives to create his public persona: an earnest, straight-shooting, big thinker with integrity and deeply held conservative convictions. The media swallowed each spurious ingredient, helping push him forth as a tea party rock star and, now, a man who could be next in line for the presidency. But since hitting the national stage, the real Ryan has been revealed as a slippery, dissembling, fabricating, small-minded, political hack. His debut speech at the Republican National Convention was so filled with lies and chicken you-know-what that it even caused Fox TV's fawning commentators to gag . Since then, he has continued to stink up the campaign trail, establishing himself, in the words of one ew York Times columnist , as "a veritable poster boy for hyperbole and hypocrisy." Then, in a recent radio interview , Ryan really ripped it by demonstrating the dishonesty that resides in his innermost core. Bragging that he's a very fit fellow, the VP candidate claimed to have run a marathon in under three hours. Wow — that's championship stuff! Only, it was just more chicken stuff. Runner's World magazine checked it out , and Ryan's run turned out to take more than four hours — an ordinary time. The candidate later tried to laugh it off as an innocent exaggeration. But whether you run a marathon or run for office, facts — and integrity — matter. Ryan can run, but he can't hide the truth about himself. You Should Know About Sensata - It’s What the Election is About By Dave Johnson Workers facing outsourcing by Bain Capital are camping outside the Sensata factory in Freeport, Ill. They are asking Mitt Romney to show up and help save their jobs. They say they will stay camped there until Romney shows up and stands with them – or with Bain. Mitt Romney can can use this to show us if he wants to be president of the whole United States, or just president of, by and for the outsourcing 1 percenters. Sensata The private equity firm Bain Capital put together Sensata Technologies in 2006 to make and sell sensors and controls to car makers and other manufacturers. The company is closing the Freeport, Ill. plant and outsourcing the 165 jobs to China. The workers have to train their Chinese replacements before they are laid off. Sensata is making plenty of money. According to the company's website: • Second quarter 2012 net revenue was a record $504.6 million, an increase of 10.9% from the second quarter 2011 net revenue of $455.0 million. • Second quarter 2012 net income was $26.1 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, versus second quarter 2011 net (loss) of $(34.6) million, or $(0.20) per diluted share. • Second quarter 2012 Adjusted net income1 was a record $97.5 million, or $0.54 per diluted share, versus second quarter 2011 Adjusted net income1 of $92.2 million, or $0.51 per diluted share. Sensata explains that Chinese workers cost less. Mitt Romney started Bain Capital in 1984. He left the company in 1999, or 2000, or 2001, or 2002, or later, or earlier, depending on which year is best. In 2012 he is clearly no longer with Bain, while receiving only approximately $440,000 a week from the company. Efforts To Get Sensata To Reconsider The Freeport, Ill., City Council unanimously passed a resolution on July 16 asking Romney to come and help save the workers' jobs. Two Republican members of Congress, Don Manzullo, R-Ill., and Bobby Schilling, R-Ill., sent a letter to Sensata's CEO asking him to keep the jobs in Freeport. Manzullo is a co-sponsor of the House "currency" bill, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (H.R. 639) that would crack down on China's currency manipulation. Though he is a co-sponsor, Manzullo refuses to sign a discharge petition that would bring the bill to the floor for an actual vote . Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) has joined workers in asking Romney to show up and help. Illinois' Governor Pat Quinn has visited the workers in Freeport, and asks Congress to pass the Bring Jobs Home Act. The Bring Jobs Home Act would eliminate the tax breaks that encourage companies like Bain and Sensata to close factories here and send the jobs and the work to countries like China, with the cash stopping off in the Cayman Islands for a quick tax cleansing. The Bring Jobs Home Act was recently filibustered by Senate Republicans. House Republicans Plan Two Month Vacation, Leaving Key Bills Awaiting Action By Josh Israel House Republican Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced Friday that after next week, the House will stand in recess until November 13. His plan for a nearly two month vacation will undoubtedly allow more time for campaigning, but will leave several vital bills awaiting action. Among the important legislation the House will likely not address before the November elections: 1. Violence Against Women Act re-authorization . Though a bipartisan Senate majority passed the a strong re-authorization bill in April, the Republican House leadership refused to allow a vote on the Senate version of the bill. The House passed a watered down version on a mostly-party lines vote, leaving victims to wait for House action. 2. The American Jobs Act . Republicans have been blocking President Obama’s jobs legislation for more than a year. Though House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) promised in 2010 that a GOP Congress would focus on job creation, he has blocked this bill’s immediate infrastructure investments, tax credits for working Americans and employers, and aid to state and local governments to prevent further layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials. 3. Tax cuts for working families. In July, the Senate passed a bill extending tax-cuts for the first $250,000 in annual income. The Republican House leadership has refused to consider the bill, holding it hostage to their demands for a full extension of Bush-era tax cuts for millionaires. 4. Veterans Job Corps Act. The Senate is currently considering bipartisan legislation to help America’s veterans find jobs.