Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Walker Budget Is Already Working! Part XXXIX

Long before Scott Walker even got into politics, Big Businesses were chipping away at workers rights and at the power of the unions.  By the time Walker arrived into a position of authority, the private sector unions were greatly weakened and the propaganda against them were well embedded into many people's way of thinking.

This made it easier for Walker to attack the public sector workers, furthering the agenda of putting more and more of the costs of running a country, a state or a local government on the poor and the working families and off of the rich and the big businesses.

Now we are seeing the next phase of this vicious downward cycle:
A Boilermakers Union Local 443 official said Wednesday that 156 members would be laid off Friday from Manitowoc Cranes at the South 30th Street manufacturing plant.

The official said Boilermakers members received a letter Wednesday from Larry Weyers, executive vice president for Manitowoc Cranes in the Americas region, indicating workers should not show up for work, effective with Monday's shifts, due to the company's ongoing dispute with International Association of Machinists Local 516.

[...]

Leaders of the IAM union said Wednesday company management was pursuing a "union busting" strategy in the rejected contract proposal.

"The company proposed eliminating long-standing contract language requiring any employee who benefits from negotiated wages and benefits to become a member of the union that negotiated those benefits," said Ben Elizondo, IAM business representative.

"This proposal is nothing more than union busting," Elizondo said. "It provides no economic value or added productivity for the company and virtually guaranteed the contract would be rejected and the strike would take place."

Elizondo said company officials are seeking to implement union representation changes adopted earlier this year by Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature that now affect municipal and state public employee unions.
Wisconsin is not open for business.

And it's damn sure not open for working families.

The only thing Walker has opened Wisconsin for is profiteering.

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