Happy Hunting

All of us in AFSCME Local 474 are wishing everyone a safe, enjoyable, and successful hunting season!  We hope you all get the chance to bag the big one!

Recall Petitions Available

     Check with your Local 474 Executive Council reps if you want to sign the recall petition for Governor Walker and/or Lieutenant Governor Kleefish.  They will either be circulating the petitions or will be able to direct you to people who are.

In November We Remember: Joe Hill

The Northwoods Grassroots Labor Activists will be presenting Joe Hill and The Little Red Songbook: Still Fanning the Flames of Discontent as part of their "In November We Remember" series on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 6:30 PM at The Guild Hall, 39 South Pelham St. in Rhinelander.  The NGLA focuses on community action and labor history eduction.  Joe Hill was a Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter who was accused of murder and excecuted in Salt Lake City in 1915 in a very high-profile national case.  Learn all about him and his life at the NGLA presentation on Thursday.

Walker Recall Effort Begins

United Wisconsin and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has begun to collect the over 500,000 signatures that it requires in order to recall Governor Scott Walker.  Make sure to find someone who is circulating the petition and sign up today.  Offical circulators will be wearing lanyard to identify themselves, so make sure that the person who is circulting your petition is wearing a lanyard, or is in some other way trustworthy, as there is some concern that fake petitions will be circulated.  When you are done signing, make sure to get three other people to sign as well!

Wisconsin School Districts Hurting Under Budget Repair Bill

    A recent survey by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators has found that the majority of school districts across the state have had to reduce staffing levels and increase class sizes since the enactment of the Budget Repair Bill and the latest state budget, rammed through the Legislature by Governor Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers.  The administrators association sent the survey questions to all 424 school districts in the state and 83% responded.  The following graphic showing responses came from the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

     As you can see, the vast majority of those districts that answered, including Lakeland Union, Crandon, Mercer, and Hurley had to make some sort of cuts or incease class sizes in some way.  Other local districts such as Three Lakes, Rhinelander, and Phelps responded that they made no cuts.  Northland Pines did not respond to the survey.  The DPI and the administrators association released this statement: "Much has been made of the unremarkable fact that school districts across the state balanced their budget this year.  School districts are required to balance their budgets every year, so the important question is not whether they balanced their budgets, but rather how that balanced budget was received."
      Governor Scott Walker's office has issued a detailed rebuttal to the study, and contends that many of the districts that answered that they had to make reductions were unwilling or unable to adopt the collective bargaining changes allowed by the Budget Repair Bill.  Walker's spokesman, Cullen Werwie, stated that "Governor Walker's reforms are working, schools are staying the same or getting better...while the state will hold the line on property taxes over the next two years."

Ohio Rejects New Collective Bargaining Law

   In a statewide referendum yesterday, the people of the state of Ohio rejected recently implemented collective bargaining laws that were more restrictive than those passed in Wisconsin.  It is being considered a huge victory for labor unions in the state, and a defeat of Republican Governor John Kasich.  You can read more about it by clicking here.

Transition Committee Recap

     At the last Transition Committee meeting, the Committee discussed a potential Table of Contents for a revised Employee Handbook and were informed by the Human Resources Director that a consortium of counties were working together to write a pair of handbooks - one for employees in general and one for management.  The Committee also discussed the implementation of temporary work rules to replace the Union contract after January 1, 2012 until more permanent rules regarding things such as pay, health insurance, and time off can be put into place.   There was also much comment from the employees in attendance, most of it regarding the uncertainty of the future and the low morale in the Courthouse in general.  Thank you to the employees who were brave enough to speak the truth in very difficult circumstances.  The next meeting is scheduled for November 30, 2011 at 4:00 pm in the Courthouse Conference Rooms.  Please make sure to attend, as the Committee was very interested in hearing what issues the employees feel are high priority.  Written comments are also welcome in the Clerk's Office.