Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Blog

GOTV is here. Let's hit the streets!

Get out the Vote (GOTV) weekend is here for the November 19 special election in Wisconsin’s 21st Assembly District.  We are calling all union members and activists to hit the streets in support of Elizabeth Coppola.  

Join us this Saturday, November 16, for a GOTV kick-off event with special guest Congresswoman Gwen Moore at 9:30am at the UAW Hall, 7435 S Howell Ave, Oak Creek, WI.

With just days to go until Election Day on Tuesday, November 19, Elizabeth Coppola needs your help.

Volunteer Opportunities

• Saturday, November 16 - Shifts start at 9:30am, Noon, 3pm, and 6pm

• Sunday, November 10 - Shifts start at Noon and 6pm

• Monday, November 18 - Shifts start at 9am, Noon, 3pm, and 6pm

• Tuesday, November 19 - Shifts start at 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm;

Location

• UAW Hall - 7435 S Howell Ave, Oak Creek, WI

Elizabeth Coppola is a graduate of Alverno College and works for the United Way.  She's not a politician -- and is ready to put partisanship aside and do what's best for our community by investing in public schools, prioritizing middle class issues like jobs with good wages and restoring bipartisan support of unions and collective bargaining.

Elizabeth can win this election and help build towards a pro-worker majority in the State Assembly BUT she can't do it without your help. 

We have just days left to increase voter participation and boost support for Elizabeth Coppola.  Coppola will be a true champion for middle class families. We hope to see you GOTV weekend!

Vote Coppola!

Elizabeth Coppola will put middle-class issues first and bring people together to find solutions. She is a graduate of Alverno College and works for the United Way.  She's not a politician and is ready to put partisanship aside to put Wisconsin first!

She supports investing in public neighborhood schools, bringing good jobs with living wages to the community and protecting workers' rights on the job!  Vote Coppla on November 19 for Wisconsin's 21st Assembly District.

The $64,000 Question

On Tuesday, November 19, there will be a special election for an open assembly seat in Wisconsin’s 21st Assembly District. The district includes South Milwaukee, Oak Creek and parts of Franklin.  If you aren’t sure what district you are in, click here.

The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO has endorsed Elizabeth Coppola because of her commitment to middle class families.  Coppola is a graduate of Alverno College and works for the United Way.  She is ready to work on a bipartisan basis to put working Wisconsinites first.  Find out more about Elizabeth Coppola here.

Her opponent, Republican Jessie Rodriguez, received more than $64,000 in campaign contributions from special interests groups in the primary election alone.  Rodriguez is beholden to her corporate sponsors.  She is ready to do the bidding of campaign donors, instead of listening to the concerns of constituents.  Rodriguez is an avid support of the privatization of public schools and supports for-profit voucher school expansion instead of investing in public schools for all children. 

Vote Coppola on November 19! Volunteer to get out the vote --click here for times and locations.

Coppola for WI Assembly District 21!

Elizabeth Coppola is a graduate of Alverno College and works for the United Way.  She's not a politician -- and is ready to put partisanship aside and do what's best for our community by investing in public schools, prioritizing middle class issues like jobs with good wages and restoring bipartisan support of unions and collective bargaining. 

It's time to find solutions.  It's time for new leadership.  Union Approved:  Vote Coppola!

Tell Rep. Ribble to Protect Social Security for Vets

New Report Highlights Attacks on Wages & Labor Standards in WI

A new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows how state legislators across the country launched an unprecedented series of legislative initiatives in 2011 and 2012 that aimed to lower wages and labor standards, weaken unions, and erode workplace protections for both union and non-union workers.  The report highlights a series of attacks on wages and labor standards in Wisconsin.

By documenting how similar bills were advanced in multiple states, the report shows the extent to which these proposals were driven by corporate lobbying groups, in particular the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

The author of the EPI report, University of Oregon Associate Professor Gordon Lafer, emphasizes that many of these legislative proposals aimed to lower wages and labor standards for non-union workers.  For example, four states passed laws restricting the minimum wage; four states lifted restrictions on child labor; and 16 states imposed new limits on benefits for the unemployed.  States also passed laws stripping workers of overtime rights; repealing or restricting rights to sick leave; undermining workplace safety protections; and making it harder to sue one’s employer for race or sex discrimination.

Lafer highlights the following examples in Wisconsin that fit within this nationwide pattern:

UNION BUSTING
•    By far the most galvanizing and most widely reported legislative battle of the past two years was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget repair bill” that, in early 2011, largely eliminated collective bargaining rights for the state’s 175,000 public employees.

PREVAILING WAGE and MINUMUM WAGE
•    In 2011–2012, conservative legislators used their power at the state level to try to prevent any local governments from setting a higher standard for wages or benefits. This included banning localities from establishing their own minimum wages, prevailing wages, or living wages.

SICK LEAVE
•    In Wisconsin, the legislature was more ambitious, preemptively banning any locality from establishing sick leave policies. Furthermore, in an effort supported by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the legislature retroactively abolished the right to sick leave that had been established in Milwaukee, approved by 68 percent of voters in a 2008 referendum.

STRIPPING FMLA BENEFITS
•    In Wisconsin, the state Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides employees with certain benefits that do not exist under federal FMLA law. With SB 8—co-sponsored by a pair of ALEC-affiliated legislators—lawmakers sought to strip Wisconsin employees’ right to those more generous benefits.

For a full fact sheet on corporate efforts to pass anti-worker laws in Wisconsin click here: http://bit.ly/HuG7fX

SNAP Reductions Would Harm Both Families and Local Economies

This is a crosspost from The Wisconsin Budget Project, an initiative of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.

Nearly 900,000 people in Wisconsin will see a cut in their food assistance benefits starting Friday, November 1, making it harder for many Wisconsin families to put food on the table, according to a new Wisconsin Budget Project report.

The across-the-board cuts will reduce food assistance by $89 million in this fiscal year, when a boost to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps), is set to expire.
Wisconsin children will be especially hard hit by the cut, as 1 out of 3 Wisconsin children received SNAP benefits last year. In some areas of the state, such as Milwaukee and rural counties in northern Wisconsin, SNAP is such an important support for families that more than half the children receive assistance over the course of the year.

In addition to helping feed hungry families, SNAP is one of the fastest, most effective ways to stimulate a struggling economy. That’s because benefits are spent almost immediately on food at local grocery stores.

On top of the reductions that go into effect this week, the House of Representatives has passed a bill that would cut even deeper -- slashing an additional $40 billion from food assistance over the next ten years.

SNAP is a powerful tool that help keeps Wisconsin families out of poverty. Reducing benefit levels or restricting eligibility during slow economic times will make it harder for Wisconsin residents to make ends meet, and could harm local economies.

For more on how SNAP cuts harm Wisconsin families and businesses, read the new Wisconsin Budget Project brief.