Wisconsin passes public-sector union curbs without Democrats

MADISON, Wis.— Republicans in the Wisconsin state Senate approved Governor Scott Walker’s plan to curb the rights of public-sector unions on Wednesday, stripping out the parts that required the presence of their 14 absent Democratic colleagues.

In an 18-to-1 vote, the Senate approved the restrictions on collective bargaining by public employees Walker has insisted are needed for the state’s cash-strapped municipalities deal with a projected $1.27 billion two-year drop in aid from the state, struggling to close its own $3.6 billion budget gap.

The measure’s most controversial provision would limit public sector union bargaining to wages, and only up to the rate of inflation. It also compels public sector unions to make increased payments to their health and pension plans.

The bill will now go to the Assembly, expected to vote on the measure on Thursday.

It has prompted massive demonstrations in the state capital by the bill’s opponents and is being watched closely in several other U.S. states where Republicans are seeking to curtail the rights of unions representing public employees in battles that have turned increasingly bitter.

Walker, 43, applauded the move, which came despite signs, including public opinion polls, that a growing number of Wisconsinites don’t back the measure.

Walker never debated the issue during his two-year campaign. It reverses long-standing policy in Wisconsin, among the first states to give public employees union rights.

“The Senate Democrats have had three weeks to debate this bill and were offered repeated opportunities to come home, which they refused,” Walker said in a statement.

But Democrats blasted the move.

’OUTRAGE’

“In 30 minutes, 18 state senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin. Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten,” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller.

The senate move, which comes just eight weeks into Walker’s term, seems likely to further poison what is already a nasty political environment in the state Capitol.

Democrats say Walker is taking advantage of the state’s current financial problems to attack organized labor — traditionally a strong supporter of the Democratic Party and a critical player in any effort by Democrats to recover from the setbacks they suffered in midterm elections last fall and to keep President Barack Obama in the White House in 2012.

Also on Wednesday, hundreds of union supporters linked hands to form a chain around Idaho’s Capitol in Boise to protest a similar bill passed by the state legislature to strip public school teachers of most collective bargaining rights.

Walker, who campaigned on a jobs and fiscal responsibility platform, convened a special session of the state legislature in January to pass what he called a budget repair bill. Buried inside the measure were the provisions that strip public employees of most of their union rights.

In an effort to delay the bill’s passage, 14 Democratic state Senators fled to neighboring Illinois three weeks ago to deny the 19 Republicans in the chamber the quorum they need to enact the proposal, which had already passed in the Assembly.

By stripping out all the fiscal fixes and considering just the collective bargaining portions, the Senate Republicans were able to pass the measure without the Democrats.

A conference committee made up of Republican members of the Assembly and Senate on Wednesday separately approved a revised budget bill over the objections of Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, who called the meeting a violation of state law.

If that measure clears the Assembly and Walker signs the bill as expected, the restrictions on union activity by public employees will become law, barring a court challenge.

Walker insists a crackdown on collective bargaining by public workers is needed to help municipalities offset sharp cuts in state aid he’s proposed to help close the deficit.

But opponents say public workers had already agreed to steep benefit cuts that will save billions and Walker’s proposal is simple union-busting, designed to strip them of their rights and throw organized labor into a crisis ahead of the 2012 presidential race.

© 2011 Thomson Reuters

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