Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Blog

Backroom Deals

Early this morning after a marathon session full of shady backroom deals, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) completed their budget discussions and voted on a final document to send to the state Assembly and Senate for debate. 

The 12-4 Republican controlled committee steamrolled over Wisconsin’s middle class and rewarded their campaign contributors by passing almost all of Gov. Walker’s harmful budget proposals.  This budget systematically dismantles programs and services that have made Wisconsin a great place for working people.  Make no mistake, this budget was heavily influenced by corporate lobbyists spinning deals in backrooms and chocking it full of special interest items. 

•    Public education is being scaled back and teachers disrespected.  Republicans are siphoning tax dollars out of neighborhood schools and into for-profit private education enterprises.

•    The JFC put in place an unfair tax shift scheme that overwhelming favors the rich and the top 1% of earners. 

•    The JFC sidestepped the time-tested recommendations of the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council, an advising council made up of both labor and management groups that work together to create a balanced approach to unemployment compensation.  The JFC also decreased benefits that unemployed workers rely on. 

•    The JFC let politics cloud their common sense and refused to accept federal funds to expand BadgerCare coverage in Wisconsin.  This move will cost the state money and jobs and as a new study recently outlines will result in more needless deaths. 

•    The JFC called for a private bail bond system to be legalized. Commercial bail bonds have been banned in Wisconsin since 1979 and face near universal opposition from judges, lawyers and law enforcement.  Bail bonds are ineffective and a threat to public safety. 

The budget is expected to be completed and sent to the Governor by June 30. Floor debate in both the Assembly and Senate will occur between now and then.  This is our final chance to raise our voices and urge legislators to make changes to one of the worst budgets in Wisconsin’s history. 

URGENT -- the next three weeks are critical.

Hundreds March for Justice for Palermo's Workers

On Saturday, June 1, exactly one year after pizza workers at Palermo’s Pizza in Milwaukee walked off the job for a living wage, safe working conditions and union recognition, workers and community members undertook a historic 18 mile march for a slice of justice. 

Starting at 8:00 a.m. at the Palermo’s pizza plant in the Menomonee Valley, hundreds of workers marched 12 hours and 18 miles to co-owner Angelo Falluca’s home in Mequon.  In Mequon, participants held a candlelight vigil to ask the Falluca brothers to come to the table and negotiate a resolution to the ongoing dispute. 

Workers are calling for a living wage and safer working conditions through a union. Recently, OSHA cited Palermo's for 8 safety violations and a workplace accident in May resulted in a worker losing three fingers.

Russ Winklbauer with the United Steelworkers Local 1343 thanked striking workers for calling attention to unsafe working conditions inside the plant:

These brave workers have exposed illegal and unsafe ammonia storage practices at Palermo’s.  Their actions have made Milwaukee safer, so a tragedy like West, Texas does not happen here.  If we had had a union in place, we would have had a health and safety committee which may have prevented the recent workplace accident where a worker lost 3 fingers.

Workplace accidents are a common occurrence according to Palermo workers.

Jesús, who has worked at Palermo’s for 10 years, shared a firsthand account of the conditions instead the factory.

I have a family.  I have 3 children.  Palermo’s never cared about my family.  I had various accidents in that factory, many other workers did too.  Palermo’s never cared about any of us.  Once, when I got in an accident Palermo’s ordered a taxi to bring me to the doctor.  I was given 16 stitches.  Palermo’s ordered that same taxi to bring me back to the factory to complete my shift despite my accident.  If I wanted to take time off I needed to use vacation. 

Jesús continued:

We need to move forward to justice.  Maybe I won’t see it, but I fight so that someday my children will.

Marchers also called attention to the growing need for immigration reform by highlighting the plight of immigrant workers who are too-often exploited by corporations. 

(Top & Bottom Photo Credit:  Overpass Light Brigade.  Middle Photos Credit:  Susan Ruggles.)

Union, company solution saves jobs

The following is a letter to the editor from Jeff McCabe, a United Steelworker from Kaukauna, which appeared in the Sheboygan Press. 

Forward: What can be. 

I hope people took notice of what recently happened in our state. An investment company and a labor union worked together to create a new corporation that will keep 1,800 family-sustaining jobs in Wisconsin. This partnership should be a model for all employer and employee relationships, working together to create an atmosphere for each to prosper while making a quality product for the consumers benefit.

Unfortunately, our current Republican leadership believes in “divide and conquer” as a strategy for working with employees. No one prospers under those conditions. So we are fortunate in Wisconsin to have these forces combine to show us how we can move forward when we work together.

Thank you, KPS Capital Partners and the United Steelworkers for your leadership. A special thank you goes out to Kaukauna native Jon Geenen for his efforts as the main USW negotiator.