ACT 10 is Unconstitutional

Brothers and Sisters,

On Friday September 14, 2012, Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas granted summary judgment in favor of Madison Teachers Inc. and others finding many basic provisions of Act 10 violate the US and Wisconsin Constitutions and are therefore null and void.

Judge Colas found that the restriction limiting the increases on general municipal employees’ base wages only to the CPI if bargained by a union burdened employees’ rights to free speech and freedom of association since the limitation applied only to municipal employees represented by a union.

The Judge held the prohibition against payroll dues deduction and the annual recertification election requirement by 51% of those eligible to vote burdens freedom of speech and association rights of those employees who support unions.

The Court also found that the above described provisions violated employees’ equal protection rights when strict scrutiny is applied. Strict scrutiny is applied to provisions which burden fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and association.

Judge Colas referred in a footnote to the decision of US District Court Judge Conley who also invalidated the prohibition of payroll dues deduction and the annual recertification elections as unconstitutional.

Judge Colas also found the Act 10 requirement that employees covered by the City of Milwaukee pay 5.5% toward their pension violated the City of Milwaukee’s right to home rule under the Wisconsin Constitution and the City’s contract with its employees since the City Charter provides the City pay the 5.5% and that the terms of the pension were vested.

The analysis of Judge Colas has some parallels to Judge Conley’s decision. Both find violations of free speech and equal protection clauses of the US Constitution and invalid the annual recertification elections and prohibition of payroll dues deduction for unions.

Judge Colas’ decision, however, goes farther. It invalidates the all the restrictions on municipal employees right to bargain not just the recertification election and the prohibition on payroll dues deduction. It finds that more provisions of Act 10 violate fundamental rights and therefore applies strict scrutiny to all those provisions when evaluating equal protection. The equal protection analysis is not based on the distinction between general and public safety employees, but rather the difference between represented and unrepresented employees.

It is likely Governor Walker will appeal the decision, just as he appealed Judge Sumi’s earlier decision enjoining the statute and Judge Conley’s decision. If that occurs there may also be a motion to stay the Court’s decision pending appeal. One concern is whether the Wisconsin Supreme Court will review the decision on the basis of the evidence and legal precedent, or for political reasons will ignore the legal precedent on which Judge Colas relied.

In Solidarity,

Phil Neuenfeldt, President

Stephanie Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer

Students of Wisconsin Technical Colleges to Benefit From $1.9 Million in Latest Great Lakes Grants

MADISON, WI, Jun 12, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation (Great Lakes) today announced the awarding of grants to the 16 colleges of the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). The grants will allow each college to establish and help manage a campus-based program that provides students in need with money to address the unexpected expenses that can cause these students to drop out. The grants -- up to $140,000 per college, based on enrollment -- are made available through Great Lakes' philanthropic Community Investments program.


Read more

New WERC Rules on Base Wages

On Friday March 30, Governor Walker approved revised emergency administrative rules for determining base wages for bargaining under Act 10. Under these new rules, base wages will no longer be equivalent to an individual’s actual salary, but rather a lesser amount that excludes compensation for educational attainment, credentialing, lump sum merit, and overtime, among other items. While this change applies to state and municipal employees, it will likely affect our K-12 and tech college teacher locals disproportionately, as many of our teacher union contracts include educational attainment salary bumps.

These new rules reflect a departure from the Wisconsin Employment Commission’s original interpretation of how base salary should be calculated. The original emergency rule, which was unanimously approved by the Commission, defined base wages much more broadly. At Walker’s request, the Commission redrafted the rules to further limit unions’ ability to negotiate on their members’ behalf. These new rules were approved by the Commission along partisan lines. James Scott and Rodney Pasch, the two Walker appointees voted in favor of the new rules, while Judy Neumann, the remaining Doyle appointee on the Commission, dissented. For a copy of the new rules, go here: http://werc.wi.gov/selected_press_releases_and_werc_world_articles.htm#maximum_base_wage_increase_rules_redrafted.

The revised rules set the base wage, and, therefore the CPI increase, substantially below the amount needed to pay teachers their current salaries. For instance, if the union contract has a base salary for a starting teacher with a BA of $38,000, but a starting salary for a teacher with an MA is $50,000, the bargained salary increase up to CPI will be figured on the teacher’s base salary of $38,000 rather than her actual salary of $50,000. Any increase beyond this amount—and, in fact, any part of the teacher’s current salary that is attributed to educational attainment or other “supplemental compensation”—will not be bargainable under the new rules.

These new administrative rules are another example of Governor Walker’s overreach and his willingness to use the political process to bust our unions and undermine public education and state services. Under the new rules for municipal employees, general employees are divded into essentially two classes—teachers and other general employees whose salary increases have not been linked to educational attainment. As a result, the rules seem to discriminate against teachers: there is no rational basis for treating teachers' salaries differently than other general municipal employees. Further, the new rules may have the consequence of reducing teachers’ take-home pay. The union is looking into both these matters.

The news is dire, but it does not necessarily mean that teachers will see a pay cut. Nothing in the rules requires districts to cut teacher pay. Districts still have the ability to seek input from the union on supplemental salary plans, and they still have the ability to include salary increases for educational attainment in policy or handbooks. There is strong incentive for districts to continue the educational attainment increase. Students benefit from having teachers who have continued their own education. Our union locals should be working with their administrations and boards and with the larger community to ensure that educational attainment increases are preserved in the handbook and/or in board policy.

These rules are also yet another reason in a long list for recalling Governor Walker and his Republican cronies in the legislature. This is not only a matter of union rights. It is a matter of protecting and perserving Wisconsin public education. To participate in the recall election process, email Jessica Ulstad at ulstad@aft-wisconsin.org.

If you have questions about the new administrative rules, please contact your AFT-W staff rep. You may also contact that AFT-Wisconsin office directly at 608-662-1444.

Federal court strikes down parts of collective bargaining law

CLAY BARBOUR and MARY SPICUZZA | Wisconsin State Journal | (123) Comments | Posted: Saturday, March 31, 2012 4:00 am

A federal judge on Friday upheld most of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial collective bargaining law, but struck down key parts of it by ruling that the state cannot prevent public employee unions from collecting voluntary dues through payroll deductions and cannot require they recertify annually.

The collective bargaining law, also known as Act 10, established a system in which most of the public unions were required to have an "absolute" majority of their members vote every year to recertify — a standard higher than traditionally used. The law also took away some unions' rights to collect mandatory dues and prevented unions from deducting voluntary dues directly out of employee paychecks.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/federal-court-strikes-down-parts-of-collective-bargaining-law/article_562c581e-7a9f-11e1-9aea-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1qhdkMx3Q

Reclaim Wisconsin Tour & March

Reclaim Wisconsin Tour Dates & Locations

• Wed. Feb. 15:     La Crosse - Copeland Park - 1130 Copeland Park Drive, 5:30pm
• Wed. Feb. 22:     Wausau, Wausau Labor Temple - 318 S. 3rd Ave 5:30pm
• Thurs. Feb. 23:   Eau Claire Phoenix Park Pavilion, Riverfront Terrace, 5:30pm
• Mon. Feb. 27:     Kaukauna UA Local 400 - 2700 Northridge Drive, 5:30pm
• Mon. March 5:    Racine Monument Square - Main & 5th Street,5:30pm
• Wed. March 7:    Milwaukee Serb Hall - 5101 West Oklahoma Avenue, 7:00pm
• Fri. March 9:       Madison Capitol - Candlelight Vigil 6:00pm
• Sat. March 10:    Madison Capitol "Reclaim Wisconsin March at the Capitol" – Rally 1:00pm

read more

Wisconsin jobs: A numbers game

Written by

Clay Barbour

Wisconsin State Journal

• 
  

The Department of Workforce Development will release job numbers next month that could be the most anticipated statistics of Gov. Scott Walker’s short tenure.

If the January and February numbers show Wisconsin lost another 4,500 positions, the state will — on paper — have fewer jobs now than before Walker took office.

That could be a big blow for a governor who once joked that he’d tattoo “250,000 jobs” on the foreheads of his cabinet secretaries to remind them of the administration’s raison d’etre.

read more