Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Blog

Stand Up for Milwaukee Teachers, Speak out at MPS Board Meeting

On Thursday, May 16, talk to the MPS School Board and tell them to respect and support the educators who teach  our students every day!

We must stand together and raise our voices as one community supporting our students and teachers. Teacher input is essential to:

•  Create clear pathways for career advancement

•  Attract and retain educators with steps and lanes

•  Partner with educators for teaching and learning success

•  Support educators; support our students and classrooms

Public testimony is welcome, as this is a public hearing. If you plan to testify, please register at mtea.org.

WHEN:  5:30 p.m., Thursday, May 16, 2013,

WHAT:  MTEA Action at the MPS School Board

WHERE: MTEA office, 5130 W. Vliet

Wear red and gather at the MTEA office (5130 W. Vliet) between 5:00 and 6:00 to prepare testimony and have a light dinner. We will then attend the board meeting together.

Visit mtea.org to sign-up yourself, your colleagues, friends and family. When you RSVP, please let us know if you would like to testify.

Immediate Action Needed in Bangladesh

The following is a statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory.

Working people around the world are watching in horror and disbelief as the number of workers who have needlessly died in Bangladesh rises. Now, over 1,100 brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, friends and loved ones have been confirmed dead in a tragedy that never should have happened. There is no doubt that the collapse of the Rana Plaza building and factories in Bangladesh will be known as one of the worst workplace catastrophes in history. We must collectively as a nation and as a world, together with Bangladesh, take immediate steps to prevent these kinds of disasters in the future.

First and foremost, the AFL-CIO encourages the unions and corporations throughout the supply chain to negotiate, sign and implement a binding agreement regarding workplace fires and building safety in Bangladesh. The proposed Fire and Building Safety Agreement, already accepted by two major brands, guarantees worker participation, recognizes the role of government and takes measures to combat corruption by requiring rigorous inspections, transparent reporting of audits and public oversight of results. This agreement offers an integrated and sustainable solution. Agreements like these are needed in many countries where major brands and retailers have chosen to produce their goods under a low-wage and no-rights model, but the many recent and needless deaths and injuries in Bangladesh make that country the most urgent priority right now. Companies that say they want to improve conditions in Bangladesh must join the brands that have signed this agreement, rather than seeking an alternative with less transparency and accountability.

We call on the U.S. government to immediately withdraw, suspend, or limit Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits for Bangladesh until it fulfills its most basic duties to workers. As the AFL-CIO has maintained since filing a GSP petition in 2007 (and in earlier years), suspending trade benefits is a crucial mechanism to pressure the Bangladeshi government to take clear and concrete actions to afford workers their internationally recognized worker rights. Clearly, the pace of progress has been inadequate to date.

Over 80 percent of garments produced in Bangladesh are exported to the United States and the European Union. This creates shared responsibility for finding a sustainable solution to the lax conditions and weak workplace protections. Major brands and retailers in the United States, Europe and elsewhere have made millions from high profit margins based on low wages and dangerous conditions. We call on the retailers not to leave Bangladesh, but to take an active role in improving conditions by pressuring the government to implement reforms and by negotiating with workers and local employers. People outside Bangladesh must insist that retailers, brands, investors, and our governments use their power to promote sustainable development and shared prosperity for workers in Bangladesh who produce our clothes.

Join the Fight for a Living Wage

Across the country low-wage workers at McDonalds, KFC, Jimmy John’s and other service-sector jobs are joining together to improve wages and working conditions for the entire industry.  This growing movement is one of the largest grassroots workplace mobilizations in recent history.  Recently, workers in New York City, Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit went on strike demanding a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to form a union free from employer harassment and retaliation.

Inspired, Milwaukee workers are taking action and joining the fight for 15.  Show your support for better wages and better communities. Stand with the workers on Wednesday, May 15 as they kickoff their campaign to “Raise Up Milwaukee.” 

Kickoff Rally to “Raise Up Milwaukee”
4:30PM, Wednesday, May 15
Milwaukee County Courthouse
901 North 9th Street

Milwaukee is the 4th most impoverished city in the country. The $7.25 many workers earn at places like McDonald's is not enough to raise a family and many workers are forced to hold down multiple jobs just to reach full-time hours. The only way to make Milwaukee a world-class city is if our citizens earn a fair and decent wage.  To do that, workers and the community must unite together and speak out for economic justice for all workers. 

Fight for the future of Milwaukee.  Join us on Wednesday, May 15, at 4:30 p.m. at the Milwaukee County Courthouse to “Raise Up Milwaukee.”

We know that workers with decent wages are the real job creators by creating a virtuous cycle of growth.  When workers earn more, they spend more, which gives the local economy a boost and benefits entire regions. By fighting for higher wages and workplace rights, you’re fighting for a better Milwaukee. Join us for the kickoff of this very important campaign.

89 Workers Died on the Job in Wisconsin in 2011

According to a new AFL-CIO report, Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 89 workers were killed in Wisconsin in 2011 with a rate of 3.3 deaths per 100,000 workers.  Nationally, Wisconsin ranks 19 with 1 being the best and 50 being the worst. Due to lack of staffing it would take the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 96 years to inspect each workplace in the Wisconsin once.

The report notes that in 2011, there were 4,693 workplace deaths due to traumatic injuries and more than 3.8 million workers across all industries, including state and local government, who experienced work-related illnesses and injuries. As a comparison point, in 2010, 4,690 people died on the job.  For the past three years, after years of steady decline the job fatality rate has essentially been unchanged, with a rate of 3.5/100,000 workers in 2011. Similarly for past two years there has been no change in the reported workplace injury and illness rate (3.5 per 100 workers), indicating that greater efforts are needed for continued progress in reducing job injuries and deaths.

“Too many people are dying on the job right here in Wisconsin and a lot of work still needs to be done to ensure that no worker fears for his or her health and well-being on the job,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, President of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO. “Many workers are still unable to have a voice on the job and to advocate for better working conditions in both the public and private sector. A good job is not defined only by the absence of physical danger. Working people deserve respect, dignity, good wages, healthcare, and opportunities to grow and to give back to one’s community.”

“With recent workplace tragedies in Bangladesh and West, Texas, we are reminded of the horrific human toll unsafe workplaces and inadequate workplace inspections have on local communities and society as a whole,” said Stephanie Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.  “This report reminds us that we must do more to ensure that every worker who gets up to go to work comes home to their family.  We can and must do better.  Through collective bargaining, adequate oversight and increased commitment to worker rights we can decrease workplace fatalities.” 

The AFL-CIO report features profiles of workers’ safety and health in each state and includes national information on workplace illnesses, injuries and fatalities as well as the number and frequency of workplace inspections, penalties, funding, staffing and public employee coverage under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). The report also addresses delays in the rule-making process and emerging hazards such as pandemic flu and other infectious diseases.

The report finds that in the face of an ongoing assault on regulations by business groups and Republicans in Congress, progress on many new important safety and health rules has stalled. The White House Office of Management and Budget has delayed needed protections including OSHA’s draft proposed silica rule which has been held up for more than 2 years.

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect was released after vigils, rallies and actions were held across the country to commemorate all those workers who died and were injured on the job for Workers Memorial Day on April 28.

Walker's WEDC a national embarrassment

Gov. Walker ran on a promise to create 250,000 jobs in his first four years as Governor.  Many economists argued that this goal was likely to be reached with little lifting from Gov. Walker due to natural upticks in the economy.  Yet, more than halfway through Gov. Walker’s first term, he is spectacularly failing to meet his own job creation standards and his flagship “jobs agency” – the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) – has become a national embarrassment. 

WEDC’s mismanagement and incompetence falls squarely on the Walker Administration because it was the Governor’s brainchild to privatize the Department of Commerce to create the WEDC. 

Where was the necessary accountability and oversight?  A WEDC spokesman was hired despite being on the delinquent taxpayer list and owing tens of thousands of dollars to Wisconsin in back taxes.  A recent audit by the Legislative Audit Bureau found WEDC employees used company credit cards and taxpayer dollars to buy Badger season tickets, alcohol and iTune gift cards.  The audit revealed that WEDC repeatedly broke state law, lost track of millions of dollars in taxpayer funded loans, and did not establish proper reporting mechanisms to track taxpayer dollars. 

By all standards Gov. Walker’s jobs agency is in turmoil and its failures must be addressed in a bi-partisan fashion to ensure adequate oversight of taxpayer dollars and good-job creation for Wisconsinites. 

Stamp Out Hunger with the help of your Letter Carrier

On May 11, our nation’s letter carriers will pick up food donations from doorsteps and mailboxes along their route to help feed the hungry in our communities in the 21st annual "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive. "Stamp Out Hunger" is the largest, single-day food collection day in the United States.   

To make a donation simply leave a bag of nonperishable food items by your mailbox on Saturday, May 11, 2013, and your letter carrier will do the rest.

Your donation stays local and will help feed the needy in our community.  The food is sorted by volunteers on-site at the post office and the Hunger Task Force will deliver it to local food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters.  In these uncertain economic times, it is more important than ever to come together as a community and help one another.

Show your union and community solidarity by making a food donation during this year’s “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive.  Be sure to leave a bag of nonperishable food items by your mailbox on Saturday, May 11 and thank a letter carrier for doing the rest!

Milwaukee Honors Bay View Tragedy Victims & the Fight for the Eight-Hour Day

The 127th Anniversary Commemoration of the Bay View Tragedy was held Sunday, May 5, at the Bay View Historical Marker Site on Milwaukee’s lakefront.

The reenactment honors the struggles of Milwaukee workers to achieve a greater quality of life through a humane working day. Up until the 1886 tragedy, workers had been campaigning through rallies, marches and other efforts to establish the principle of the eight-hour day.

The Milwaukee rally for the cause ended with the Wisconsin State Militia firing into a crowd of about 1500 immigrant workers and laborers marching toward the old Bay View Rolling Mills (Milwaukee’s largest employer) and killing seven.

For the third straight year, this year’s event featured the popular re-enactment of the Bay View Tragedy performed by the Milwaukee Public Theatre with the Milwaukee Puppet and Mask Theatre. The traditional program — as it has been celebrated since 1986 — was held with Michael Gordon, professor emeritus of history from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee as an honored speaker. 

The event is sponsored by the Wisconsin Labor History Society in cooperation with the Bay View Historical Society, the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO and the Milwaukee Area Labor Council.

Nurses & Health Professionals Storm Madison for Patient Safety & Quality Care

Walker's Job Agency Woes

An audit released this week by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau found that Gov. Walker’s premier job creation agency -- the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, better known as “WEDC” -- repeatedly broke state law, failed to keep track of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded loans and spent taxpayer money on ineligible projects.   The scathing audit found that the WEDC had no plans for tracking delinquent loans, gave out grants that violated state law and had insufficient records to track job creation. 

The audit found that Gov. Walker’s hires spent taxpayer money on Wisconsin Badger Football season tickets, alcohol and iTunes gift cards. 

Gov. Walker ran on a promise to create 250,000 jobs for the state of Wisconsin and touted the WEDC as an essential component of that goal.  Walker and the Legislature created WEDC in 2011.  Two years later, Wisconsin is 44th in the nation in job creation and Gov. Walker's flagship jobs agency is plagued by mismanagement, lack of accountability and corruption. 

Call your Legislators today and tell them that the WEDC must be accountable. 

Wisconsin taxpayers deserve accountability for all grants, loans, subsidies, tax breaks and tax incentives offered to businesses or angel investors which represent an actual or potential loss to the state treasury.  Standards must be set because any shortfall in revenue would need to be addressed through budget cuts or by shifting the cost to regular taxpayers.  It is only fair that the state requires accountability standards such as job creation standards, transparency, payback responsibility and good corporate citizen standards from business to justify the public investment, and to make certain that it is a responsible and effective strategy for job creation. 

Read more about the audit at:

•    Bloomberg Business Week, Blistering audit faults Wis. job creation agency
•    Legislative Audit Bureau, Report Highlights
•    Wisconsin Public Radio, Walker, State Dems React To Findings Of WEDC Mismanagement
•    Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Neglected WEDC taxpayer-financed loans grow to $12.2 million

Wisconsinites Mobilize on May Day To Call for Immigrant and Workers’ Rights

Thousands of working people gathered across Wisconsin on May 1 to commemorate May Day and rally for the rights of all workers, regardless of where they were born.  At marches in Milwaukee and Madison participants demanded a roadmap to citizenship, strong worker protections, good jobs, and an end to deportations.  


Immigrant families, students, union members and their allies in the civil rights, faith and progressive communities commemorated the legacy of May Day, also known as International Worker’s Day.  The streets of Milwaukee were shut down for as marchers took to the streets for rights and recognition at an event sponsored by Voces de la Frontera.  In Madison, citizens marched and elementary students studied labor history murals and listened to local workers detail the work they do and how it relates to the community at the South Central Federation of Labor.






Rep. Gwen Moore was on hand at Pere Marquette Park in Milwaukee to say “we’re all here to push for comprehensive immigration reform.  Your tireless efforts have brought us one step closer to reaching our goal.  We want a good deal that takes our brothers, sisters and families out of suffering.  The system is broken, 1,000 of deportations, families split apart, children orphaned, enough!” 

“We are proud to stand together today with our allies in the immigrant rights community, faith groups and other community partners to bring 11 million aspiring Americans out of the shadows,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, President of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.  “With the passion and hard work of our vibrant movement and the unstoppable momentum in our country around creating just and compassionate immigration reform, we will have a road map to citizenship in 2013. The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO and the 200,000 families it represents are committed to fighting for justice for all working people, regardless of where they were born.”