Wisconsin Senate GOP Votes to Strip State Workers of Collective Bargaining Rights

We have continually had layoffs where I work.. Here's the drill.. Lay-off people who have been here and earned the higher pay to higher newer people and pay them less.. Wow this would NEVER have happened in a union.. I am actually planning a luncheon as we speak for my dear co-worker who's last day is April 1st.. Just sad..

Originally Posted by VCURamFan

Thank you for sharing your opinions. I'm really glad that we can have an intelligent exchange of thoughts & ideas with one another.

As an outsider looking in, I've felt that while unions were, at one point, a huge necessity & ar estill important to protect workers, the current unions (much like our government) have grown & morphed into mutations of their original purposes.

(btw, is anyone here shocked that the Sicilian on here is a member of the Jersey Union? )

i have never been a fan of unions myself, but let's see, how do i put this nicely ... i feel that unions for "skilled" work like teachers is necessary .. i am not a fan of autoworkers, city workers etc unions .. not to say that they are not skilled, but most of them got the job first and then became skilled ... just my opinion and hope that it doesn't offend anyone ...

Originally Posted by rearnakedchoke

i have never been a fan of unions myself, but let's see, how do i put this nicely ... i feel that unions for "skilled" work like teachers is necessary .. i am not a fan of autoworkers, city workers etc unions .. not to say that they are not skilled, but most of them got the job first and then became skilled ... just my opinion and hope that it doesn't offend anyone ...

I am skilled with a degree that had nothing to do with my job and the job I obtained in the union environment was much harder than the job I had a degree for.. Lol. food for thought. Mostly all jobs we obtain the "skill" when we are actually on the job..

Originally Posted by Miss Foxy

I am skilled with a degree that had nothing to do with my job and the job I obtained in the union environment was much harder than the job I had a degree for.. Lol. food for thought. Mostly all jobs we obtain the "skill" when we are actually on the job..

yeah .. i know .. i just know a lot of guys that work for the city or for GM or other places and these are the guys that dropped out of school and stuff .. now they make real good money and are always complaining .. they got their jobs cuz they knew someone and act like they are irreplaceable ..

Originally Posted by rearnakedchoke

yeah .. i know .. i just know a lot of guys that work for the city or for GM or other places and these are the guys that dropped out of school and stuff .. now they make real good money and are always complaining .. they got their jobs cuz they knew someone and act like they are irreplaceable ..

That don't happen here in California..City jobs require hs diploma, testing, background checks, etc. I do understand what you mean about complainers.. I was one of those always yapping about how my job sucked and in retrospect leaving Kaiser was the biggest mistake of my life aside from marrying that fornicator ex-husband!

[VCURamFan]

Originally Posted by Miss Foxy

We have continually had layoffs where I work.. Here's the drill.. Lay-off people who have been here and earned the higher pay to higher newer people and pay them less.. Wow this would NEVER have happened in a union.. I am actually planning a luncheon as we speak for my dear co-worker who's last day is April 1st.. Just sad..

Yeah, that really does suck, but it's what happens in a down economy like this. I mean, I don't know the specifics of your job, so maybe your CEOs are really just a bunch of a-holes, but it seems to me that it's better to have to fire some & keep the doors open for the rest as opposed to being "loyal" & possibly going under.

This is what annoys me the most about this whole situation, I think: everyone is faces really tough times right now & 10% of our country is without a job, yet the unions & teachers are complaining about not getting raises/bonues/extra benefits? I come from a family of educators (Mom's got a Masters in Ed & home-schooled all of us for at least portions of our childhoods, sister taught 2nd/3rd grade until she had kids & now homeschools all 4 of them, brother & sister in law both high school teachers working in publics schools and a private Christian high school), so I would normally be all about teachers getting extra pay because we all know that they're woefully underpaid. However, in times like these, they should be thankful for the jobs that they have & not be complaining that they want more.

It sounds like we need union reform, but maybe not union irradication. Someone has to stick up for the little guy, but that someone shouldn't be corrupt.

Originally Posted by County Mike

It sounds like we need union reform, but maybe not union irradication. Someone has to stick up for the little guy, but that someone shouldn't be corrupt.

I agree. There was a lot of abuse going on, but the abuse should have been addressed and corrected.

[QUOTE=VCURamFan;156980]Yeah, that really does suck, but it's what happens in a down economy like this. I mean, I don't know the specifics of your job, so maybe your CEOs are really just a bunch of a-holes, but it seems to me that it's better to have to fire some & keep the doors open for the rest as opposed to being "loyal" & possibly going under.

This is what annoys me the most about this whole situation, I think: everyone is faces really tough times right now & 10% of our country is without a job, yet the unions & teachers are complaining about not getting raises/bonues/extra benefits? I come from a family of educators (Mom's got a Masters in Ed & home-schooled all of us for at least portions of our childhoods, sister taught 2nd/3rd grade until she had kids & now homeschools all 4 of them, brother & sister in law both high school teachers working in publics schools and a private Christian high school), so I would normally be all about teachers getting extra pay because we all know that they're woefully underpaid. However, in times like these, they should be thankful for the jobs that they have & not be complaining that they want more.[/QUOTE]

I think SOME teachers complain about being underpaid, not all of them. You are making a sweeping generalization there. And while it’s true that the country is in trouble, it seems that a lot of people who got us into the trouble aren’t going to be the ones who are making the sacrifices to get us “out” of the trouble. Unions are for middle class employees. Not for the rich. I wonder if this whole union issue would even be an issue if the wealthy were part of them.

Teachers have ALWAYS known that lower pay comes with the job. In exchange, the benefits package made up for the low pay. I myself, understand that times are tough but at the same time I know that I am barely making enough to support myself and my two girls, and that is after 20 years of teaching. That doesn’t seem right for someone who has a double degree and 20 years of experience in the field. But that’s just my opinion. I am thankful for my job, but when they ask me to put in more hours without more pay AND pay more for my benefits AND take away some benefits completely……….well it just makes me wonder if the administration is making the same sacrifices. I’m being told that my pension might be used to help get the state out of trouble. That’s very upsetting since a lot of money has come out of my pay for my pension. Actually over 135.00 a pay period. The state puts money into my pension but I put money in too.

Are the legislators making sacrifices too? It seems to me that politicians are busy making the middle class feud with each other so that it takes the attention off of them. I think teachers are being made the villains in all this because they are an easy, convenient target and because the NEA endorsed Democratic candidates. I wonder if this would be happening at all if the Republicans had gotten the endorsements.

Again, just my opinion.............

BTW I'm a registered Independent........

Originally Posted by VCURamFan

Yeah, that really does suck, but it's what happens in a down economy like this. I mean, I don't know the specifics of your job, so maybe your CEOs are really just a bunch of a-holes, but it seems to me that it's better to have to fire some & keep the doors open for the rest as opposed to being "loyal" & possibly going under.
This is what annoys me the most about this whole situation, I think: everyone is faces really tough times right now & 10% of our country is without a job, yet the unions & teachers are complaining about not getting raises/bonues/extra benefits? I come from a family of educators (Mom's got a Masters in Ed & home-schooled all of us for at least portions of our childhoods, sister taught 2nd/3rd grade until she had kids & now homeschools all 4 of them, brother & sister in law both high school teachers working in publics schools and a private Christian high school), so I would normally be all about teachers getting extra pay because we all know that they're woefully underpaid. However, in times like these, they should be thankful for the jobs that they have & not be complaining that they want more.

lol..I work for one of the biggest Health Insurance carriers in the country.. Maybe we outta lower our rates in lieu of paying people minimum wage to do work that ends up getting done wrong.. Either way we are screwed in this economy.