Quad City Federation of Labor Supports Wisconsin Workers
Open Letter to the Quad City TimesWe the Officers and Executive Board of the Quad City Federation of Labor stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin who are fighting to preserve their basic rights as workers.
As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts, so let us be clear about the facts. Wisconsin Governor Walker’s move to eviscerate public sector unions is politically not economically motivated. Wisconsin’s own fiscal bureau reported on January 31st that the state would have finished the fiscal year on June 30 with a $56 million surplus (http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/Misc/2011_01_31Vos&Darling.pdf).
Wisconsin’s current budget crisis was manufactured and is a direct result of tax cuts pushed through in Gov. Walker's first days in office. Prior to the new round of tax cuts 2/3 of Wisconsin corporations did not pay any taxes. Last month, Governor Walker passed additional $117 million in corporate tax breaks. This tax vacation was not extended to working families who, more and more, are having to foot the bill for corporate welfare.
Governor Walker would have you believe that generous union pensions somehow are bankrupting the state. But the facts are that the average union pension is $24,000 a year, and the state’s pension system is in excellent fiscal health and over 97% funded according to the Center of Retirement Research, a non-partisan think tank.
Wisconsin’s public servants earn less than what their counterparts in the private sector earn, but when they negotiate wages, they are willing to earn less in order to preserve their pensions so they may retire with dignity. In the case of firefighters, this ability to retire is a public safety issue as well. Who wants to risk having 60 year olds climbing ladders to put out fires?
Wisconsin unions have stepped up in this fiscal crisis and have taken furlough days and accepted other wage concessions in order to balance the state’s budget. They are willing to continue to do what is necessary to maintain the fiscal health of the great state of Wisconsin – but at the bargaining table where they have successfully negotiated for decades.
But instead of negotiating in good faith, Governor Walker notified the unions last Friday that he would dissolve their current contracts and remove their right to collectively bargain. Governor Walker then tried to ram through legislation in a matter of days, without allowing the people of the state to understand the implications and debate its wisdom. Imagine if instead Governor Walker told all business owners and corporations that he was dissolving all state contracts and increasing their taxes 300% overnight?
We keep hearing from politicians and pundits that in this fiscal crisis we all must learn to live in our means and that everything is on the table. But we must ask, if everything is on the table, why are they only chomping at policies that reduce worker wages and benefits? Last year saw record profits in corporate wealth and stock market gains, but instead of dipping their forks in some of that fat, the working people of this country are being told they have to tighten their belts more and more.
Enough is enough. We salute our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin, and Ohio and other states pushing radical agendas that hurt working people. And we call on our local politicians and the good people of the Quad Cities to stand with them.
In Solidarity,
Officers:
Jerry Messer, UFCW 431, President
Dino Leone, AFSCME, Illinois Vice President
Tom Moritz, UFCW 431, Iowa Vice President
Jackie McClintock, AFSCME, Financial Secretary
John White, IBEW, Recording Secretary
Trustees:
Erma Wiszmann, CWA
Rene Dinneweth, Machinists
Marshall Douglas, Operating Engineers
Walt Knapper, SEIU
Board Members:
Chris Brase, IAFF
Randy Donnelly, AFGE
Ernie Hill, IAFF
Skip McGill, USW
Rory Washburn, Tri-City Building Trades
Scott Verschoore, IBEW
Bonnie Carey, USW
Mike Wilcher, Ironworkers
Brad Long, Laborers
Mark Myers, Painters
Sergeant of Arms:
Gene Rome, Painters
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