March 11, 2011. Developments in Wisconsin, Attack on NEA
(Received March 10, 2011)
There’s plenty going on today here in Florida … but I wanted to take a few moments to give you some information on a few items that have occurred elsewhere in the country.
On Wisconsin
By now you’ve heard about the actions taken by the Wisconsin Senate last night. The Republicans in the Senate (the Democrats are still on the lam) split the anti-collective bargaining legislation off from the broader budget legislation and passed it 18-1. Below you’ll find two items: a message from the labor table communications that was distributed by the AFT and some talking points from the NEA.
From AFT:
Just a few weeks ago, Scott Walker and the Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin schemed to pass an ugly budget bill under the cover of night. Not only did Walker demand that teachers, nurses, snow plow drivers and other hardworking middle class Wisconsinites accept sharp cuts in pay and benefits – which they agreed to – but he also insisted they relinquish their collective bargaining rights.
Well the past three weeks made history. An amazing group of students, activists, teachers, firefighters, snow plow drivers, nurses, Green Bay Packers, national allies and hardworking people all over this country in both the private and public sector stood up, spoke out, and — together — changed everything.
They stopped the Legislature in its tracks, forcing it to act in a cowardly manner to expose its real agenda. They sparked a national debate on workers’ collective bargaining rights and the future of the middle class. They inspired all of us – and other working families all over this country.
Tonight Gov. Walker and the GOP senators in Wisconsin exercised the nuclear option because they lost in the court of public opinion. They rigged a vote, stripped hardworking women and men of their rights, and they laid bare their fealty to special corporate interests – but even their own pollsters know they are losing. So remember:
Governor Walker has created divisions that will take years to heal in Wisconsin, and he possibly just cost his party dearly in 2012.
Walker has energized progressives, young people, workers, middle class families. We have used this showdown to organize, fundraise and engage our base – a base that needed it.
This was a classic overreach, and it unmasked the Wall Street/Corporate CEO agenda at work in legislatures all around the country.
They failed to break the Democratic senators who took a principled stand for middle class families.
They have inspired historic recall efforts that will remind all politicians about who they work for.
They have proved that the “us” and “them” could not be more clear now. The middle class and those who aspire to it now know who’s on their side – and who isn’t.
So this is a set-back, and it is a slap in the face of a lot of teachers, nurses, students, firefighters, construction workers and other everyday people who stood up, spoke out, and learned how much their voice mattered to their elected leaders.
But it’s not over. Not by a long shot.
Thousands of people are already working on recall efforts to change the Wisconsin State Senate, and we’ve already exceeded our own goals. We’ve had record size protests of similar attacks on workers in Ohio and Indiana, and we have witnessed more than 100 solidarity demonstrations in every state capital in the nation.
I want to thank you for everything you have done to help make sure people know what’s at stake.
We have serious work ahead, but everyone needs to remember this: we are not the kind of people who give up easy. We are going to recall these senators for failing to represent the people. And we are standing side by side the people who teach kids to read, who pull people out of burning buildings, who make sure we have clean water, who plow roads in the middle of a blizzard. Together, we will fight on.
My money’s still on us.
From NEA:
* Last night the Wisconsin Senate Republicans used the nuclear option to ram through their bill attacking working families. Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans acted in violation of state open meetings laws, and tonight’s events have demonstrated they will do or say anything to pass their extreme agenda that attacks Wisconsin’s working families.
* Last night’s trampling of the democratic process in Wisconsin shows that Scott Walker and the Republicans have been lying throughout this entire process and we have been telling the truth – that NONE of the provisions that attacked workers’ rights had anything to do with the budget.
* Losing badly in the court of public opinion and failing to break the Democratic senators’ principled stand, Scott Walker and the GOP have eviscerated both the letter and the spirit of the law and our democratic process to ram through their payback to their deep-pocketed friends.
* Scott Walker and the Republicans’ ideological war on the middle class and working families is now indisputable, and their willingness to shred 50 years of labor peace, bipartisanship, and Wisconsin’s democratic process to pass a bill that 74 percent of Wisconsinites oppose is beyond reprehensible and possibly criminal.
* This is a setback, but Walker has chosen to take on the people who teach our kids to read. Who plow our roads during blizzards. Who help the sick and the infirm live with dignity. Who rush into burning buildings. None of us are people who give up easy, and he’s about to see the already robust recall effort deliver some record results.
An attack ad against NEA
We don’t know if this will air in Florida, but given the climate here, we wouldn’t be surprised.
Currently circulating on the web is an ad by American Crossroads (Karl Rove’s group) claiming that public sector employees are overcompensated. The ad also utilizes quotes from a 2009 RA speech given by former NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin; his remarks are taken out of context.
In the event that you receive questions about this anti-union ad, NEA has prepared a series of talking points for your use. Links to the video ad and to the NEA statement are provided below.
LINKS
· Link to the video ad – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaSnDrZNEg8
· Here’s an article debunking the ad’s research claims: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/03/right-leaning_think_tank_says.html
· The general NEA statement is available for broader use and can be found in our press center at http://www.nea.org/home/42823.htm
TALKING POINTS
Bob Chanin’s quote was obviously taken out of context, with the intent of being purposefully divisive. Americans are smarter than that, and tired of the nasty rhetoric.
· There is a strong desire to restore balance and civility to the debate—to come to the table and truly negotiate issues.
· People are going to see these ads for what they are: an attempt to pit working people against working people, when we all know that CEO greed caused this current financial crisis.
Actions to silence school employees voices today through attacking the NEA and other public sector unions proves the point: there are forces across this country today who continue to blame middle class workers for the mistakes made by millionaires.
· While workers, like those in Wisconsin, are attempting to be part of the solution, these forces continue to try and silence them by attacking us.
· The truth is, if it weren’t for our ‘power to advocate’ for the middle class, no one would have to attack us since they would have free reign to decimate the middle class.
Not only do these ads take Bob Chanin — who is one of this nation’s greatest advocates for children and public education — out of context, they also misrepresent the facts.
· In states across the nation research has consistently shown that public sector workers are actually undercompensated.
· In Wisconsin, for example, an apples-to-apples comparison shows that full-time state and local workers, including school employees, are under-compensated by 8.2% relative to otherwise similar private-sector workers.
Americans have made it pretty clear that they do not want anyone to take away their rights to collectively bargain — it’s a part of the American fabric, the American story.
· Ordinary Americans depend on nurses, teachers, fire-fighters, and know that we’re all struggling together and sacrificing together while some CEOs continue to earn more in a single bonus than public sector workers will see in a lifetime.
· If the lobby representing corporate interests wants to continue to wage a war against working people, that’s their prerogative. But I don’t think it’s going to fly this time.
The following quote has gone viral over the past couple of days and since it’s apropos to what’s been going on lately, I thought I’d add my two cents on it:
“We must close union offices, confiscate their money and put their leaders in prison. We must reduce workers salaries and take away their right to strike.”
— Adolf Hitler, May 2, 1933.
I did a little research to see if the quote is accurate and the link below indicates that Hitler never said this, though he did do all the things mentioned there.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/05/953017/-Is-the-Walker-Hitler-comparison-justified
I’d refrain from passing this along because there’s no evidence that Hitler said it and because there’s never any value in comparing anyone to Hitler.
Mark Pudlow, spokesman
Public Policy Advocacy
Florida Education Association
850.201.3223 office
850.508.9756 cell
mark.pudlow(at)floridaea.org
NEA/AFT/AFL-CIO
Leading Together for Quality Public Schools for Every Student!
Imagine the Future!