I’m Not Your Scapegoat
By Audrey Barbakoff
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 15:36
A unionized librarian refuses to play the dues-paying villain
Wisconsin librarians (from left) Omar Poler, Richard Douglas Wambold, and Christine Pawley rally outside the state Capitol March 6 for collective bargaining. Photo by Sharon McQueen.
PrintI’ll admit it: I’ve always thought unions were a little passé. I just couldn’t shake the image of a typical union dude as a hard-bitten, grimy-fingered steelworker swigging black coffee spiked with gin. So despite the fact that as a public librarian I’m a dues-paying member myself, I’ve never mustered the enthusiasm to attend a meeting. I do understand how critical labor unions have been in securing the basic protections and benefits all American workers now enjoy. But it’s hard not take all that for granted; so what I wound up feeling is a vague and nostalgic appreciation for the efforts of the labor unions of yore.
Being a public employee in Wisconsin during one of the most contentious labor conflicts since that archetypal steelworker’s heyday has forced me to reexamine that impression. With thousands of union members and supporters rallying in Madison in protests reminiscent of the Vietnam-era antiwar movement, the face of today’s union is plastered all over the media. That face is young, progressive, and diverse. It’s teachers and librarians as well as firefighters, nurses, sanitation workers, college students, retirees, women, and men.
It’s funny that legislation meant to malign and eviscerate unions has made me realize how vibrant and vital they can be. But my renewed respect for the critical role of collective bargaining only makes it clearer to me that, for librarians, union-busting isn’t the biggest problem. Yes, I’m angry that a politically motivated gubernatorial power grab could set back the rights and quality of life of the middle class for decades. Yes, I’m deeply worried that I, along with many others, could lose the right to have any say about my workplace. And yes, I recognize that such an outcome would be to the detriment of all working middle-class families in Wisconsin, whether employed in the public or private sectors.
But none of it triggers the almost nauseating fury I feel every time I open the newspaper.
Legislation—no matter how destructive—doesn’t last forever. Eventually, new politicians will be elected and new political theories will come into vogue; the pendulum will continue to swing between extremes with an occasional and too-brief pause in the middle. Gov. Scott Walker’s union-busting is horrible and lives may be ruined needlessly in the process, but in the long-term view, it’s temporary.
What is not temporary is the effect of the governor’s favorite tactic in the service of this legislation: the vilification of public employees. It’s the old divide-and-conquer routine. By turning private employees against public ones, Walker can break up the largest constituency that might oppose his ideas. It’s a savvy political tactic, but it will cause permanent, irreparable damage for the most educated and hardworking public employees in Wisconsin and throughout the country. In order to turn the public at large on its own employees, supporters of this bill must paint us as lazy, stupid, overpaid freeloaders. They must imply that we are in our jobs only for the “sweet bennies” they provide.
Countering worthless rhetoric
I won’t apologize for making a living wage, for being able to visit a doctor when I need one, or for choosing a job that will help me build adequate retirement savings. I deserve and expect those things, as educated, passionate workers in any field should. But that’s not why I became a librarian, and I bet it’s not why you did. If we were just after a cushy lifestyle, there are easier (and let’s face it, more surefire) ways of securing one. I didn’t become a librarian to take; I became one because I wanted to give.
Librarians add incredible value to society. We help children develop the early literacy skills that will allow them to excel in school, reduce their dropout rate in high school, and continue on to higher education (and incomes). We help unemployed patrons learn the tech skills they need to find work. We provide enriching books and company to isolated seniors. We are defenders of intellectual freedom—safeguarding free, nonjudgmental access for everybody.
And those are just among the things we are asked to do.
We also do a million little things that were never in our job descriptions. Every day, we cope with patrons dealing with homelessness, mental illness, and extreme poverty—along with their ramifications. We are the default social service for those that have slipped through the cracks. I can’t imagine that anybody would take all of that on just because they want to make $40 grand a year. Like teachers, nurses, police officers, and many other public employees under fire, we do it because we understand how critically important it is.
The enduring problem here is one of value, one of respect. That’s why librarians around the country need to be upset about what’s going on in Wisconsin, whether you belong to a union or not. The governor of Wisconsin is telling us that we are worthless, that we add nothing and contribute nothing, that we are parasites and moochers.
It’s one thing to ask for monetary sacrifices; most librarians have already sacrificed money to do what we love. We’re an intelligent, educated bunch who could have pursued degrees in any number of more lucrative fields, or trotted our little MLISes right over to some hotshot tech company and doubled our salaries. It’s not the fiscal cuts in the bill that make me angry. I’m furious at the insinuation that we are nothing but takers.
Whatever state you live in, whoever your employer is, whether or not your salary and benefits are about to be slashed and burned, this insinuation hurts you immeasurably. The idea that librarians are worthless and even malicious will ding your compensation, sure; but that negative impression will also hurt the library’s overall budget, reduce the quality and quantity of every service we are able to offer, and deter people from walking in our doors.
Library advocacy, critically important during the budget crunches of the last few years, is now even more essential. We need to speak up about the value we bring to our communities. We need to have a presence at community meetings, in the newspapers, and—should it come to that—at protests. I want to see signs in Madison that say “If you can read this, thank a librarian!” I want to see news articles about the people who have found jobs using the library, who would not have internet access without us, who have used our resources to start businesses, pass classes, improve their health, connect with faraway relatives, understand their finances, learn to read. I want every person in every community to know that the library can make a positive difference in their lives.
The poisonous idea that librarians and libraries steal from their communities—and the consequently heightened need to shout our worth from the rooftops—is not confined to the states in which union-busting laws have been introduced. Ideas do not respect legislative borders. Bad budgets and bad legislation will hurt us for a time. Silent acquiescence to the idea we are valueless to our communities will hurt us forever.
AUDREY BARBAKOFF is a librarian at Milwaukee Public Library.
American Libraries Magazine | 50 East Huron | Chicago, IL 60611 | 2013© American Library Association | Staff Login
Comments
I am not your scapegoat
So pleased to read your comments.
librarians as bad guys
well said. The destruction of the warp threads of our educational structure continues in almost every state. Once these threads are snapped, the cloth will unravel. Who benefits? Only those who seek to control a once free people. This is an insidious process that permeates our current social and economic landscape.
Those big pensions
There seems to be a common perception that all librarians have these amazing pensions we are going to live on after we’re done sitting around doing not much of anything.
I do get a contribution on my behalf. It’s 3% of pay (and not that much pay, either). I don’t get all of it unless I’ve been there for 20 years, either. I’m pretty sure that the total is going to end up being something I can live off for a couple of months. Maybe four if I really stretch it.
So much for big pensions.
Onward to victory
Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, and now Maryland ! Our kids and grand-kids will look back and say here today was when we broke the back of the corrupt election rigging public Unions
Going Out of Business !
Rich Lowry, writing in the New York Post claimed,
“When Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels ended collective bargaining and the automatic collection of dues in 2005, the number of members paying dues plummeted by roughly 90 percent.”
Unions out freedom in !
I happen to one of those who will gladly part ways with the Union - I always felt uncomfortable with the one side political activity of the union.
balanced information
In the name of intellectual freedom - I feel compelled to give voice to those who support the Bill. You would think as librarian we should never be afraid of the facts and simply let the people make up their own minds. so look at these sources and see the other side.
The McIver Institute
http://maciverinstitute.com/
Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Inc.
http://www.wpri.org
Anonymous
Good to see the links. The blame is put where it belongs, squarely on the unions.
As Glennn Beck has said, he didn’t learn anything in school, but everything he knows in public libraries.
We must continue to spend as much as the rest of the world put together preparing for war and to cover the millionaire Banksters bad billion dollar bets with as many trillions as it takes.
If we have to close every library, school, and fire station, we must be able to fight the dozens of al Qeada in Afghanistan and assure others have the same freedom we have.
Goldman Sacks must be given all Social Security and pension funds to manage as privatation is far more efficent than any government.
The only time government was needed in American history was when the slavers, and real estate developers needed to ethnicly cleanse the First Nations to fufillur manifest destiny.
Hooray for Librarians!
I have nothing but the utmost respect for librarians. From the time I was a child I spent hours in the library, enjoying the peace and quiet to read and think. Any time I wanted to know more, I could go to the research desk and the librarians would help me find exactly the information I was looking for, regardless of how obscure the information was. When I was in graduate school, I was given what I thought was an impossible assignment, so I went to the research desk, and the librarian solved my research problem with one resource sitting right at her fingertips; I went back with so much information I made my professor angry because she didn’t know about that resource. When she asked me how I’d found it she was even angrier!
And librarians have been defenders of freedom: freedom of access; freedom of information; freedom of thought. To honor them I volunteer at my local library, so that I can free the librarians from tasks such as room pickup and rebuilding broken CD cases, so that they can focus on more important work. In short, I cannot imagine my life would be as good as it has been without librarians. So yes, please, come out and make your voices heard. You may not hear it nearly as often as you deserve, but a nation owes you its thanks and gratitude, and you need to be heard!
Thank you, all librarians, from the bottom of my heart. I owe my mind to you.
On wisconsin
Sure did like the rant of Independent Voter—talk about mud slinging, name-calling, finger-pointing. that one got all of them in there. What! why bring up the Jews and the Nazis—haven’t we had enough of those tired comparisons regarding the President, Republicans, Tea Party folks, etc.
The comment of the person who wrote that it is the taxpayers, NOT the unions, who should have a say in what government workers are paid. We are, after all, their employers. One of the basic issues, as another commentator pointed out, is the question of there being no money to meet all the promises made to those workers in much better times.
Let’s do a reality check here.
It is convenient to forget
It is convenient to forget that the reality of “no money” has two sources: 1) rampant speculation and criminal acts by Wall Street and 2) Walker’s giveaways to the wealthy after his election. When he took office there was no deficit. Why public employees must subsidize the rich is a mystery to me.
We'll see how the majority feels
Those of you on the right that spend your lives hopping from one angry outburst to the next are about to see just how many, (or few) of you there really are. Your brand of politics is to pick one group or another and direct a steady stream of hatred and lies at that group. That’s it. You run on the high octane fuel of hatred for whoever your sleazy leaders decide to target. You’re chock full of interesting facts that support your positions when taken out of context as they almost always are. You’re full of one liners that on their own are all the proof needed to convince the ignorant. You avoid lengthy debate because when ALL the facts are presented, your hateful theories just don’t hold water.
Take any one of the diatribes spewing from the likes of your heroes like Limbaugh, Palin or Hannity and try this simple exercise. Wherever you find the word Liberal or Progressive replace it with the word Jew. When you’re all done what you’ll be left with is one of the standard rants typical of your kind during another of the right wings heydays. You’ll have a speech that could have been heard on the radio on any given day in Germany between the mid 1930’s and the mid 1940’s.
This time you’ve pushed a bit too far and riled up a few too many decent Americans and in the coming months, you’ll see the evidence and the consequences. A number of those republican Senators who took part in this disgraceful power grab are going to be recalled. You’ll find someone to blame I’m sure and you’ll spew bitter hatred for the process as these bums are recalled from office. Remember please that this tactic was the one that you right wingers used to get California’s governor replaced during the anger over Enron’s republican backed energy con job. Another masterful job of creating a crisis and then using well crafted lies to benefit from fallout.
The eight Senators liable to be recalled will all face recall elections within the next year. More than half of them WILL be recalled and replaced by Democrats. When Governor Walker has been in office for one year, he too will face a recall election that he will lose. Wisconsin will have a Democratic majority in its Senate and a Democratic Governor within the next two years. Then you’ll have to watch in helpless sputtering rage as legislation that YOU hate is enacted. This will all serve as inspiration for decent people in other states and you’ll get to watch it repeated again and again.
Your hatred for President Obama has probably blinded you to the fact that he really doesn’t do much of anything that liberals and progressives want done. He’s been a terrible disappointment. What the events in Wisconsin will bring about is the knowledge that we can get what we want with decent people elected to Congress and the Senate. By 2012, whatever happens in the presidential election, Americans will revolt against the poisonous Tea Party control of congress. They’ll return control to a new crop of Democrats who have been inspired by current events. Unlike the spineless and useless democrats of recent years, the bunch that will be replacing your Fascist friends will be the real deal. Then working Americans will begin the long process of regaining everything they’ve lost to an ignorant mob whipped to a frenzy by opportunistic hucksters. People are simply fed up with living in the society produced by hypocrites, hate mongers and losers.
step of the ledge
What the heck does this rant have to do with fixing the budget/deficit problem ? And yes we all know the union was willing to offer concessions… All I am looking for is a measure to ensure we as voters have some say ( rather than the Unions) in the cost of benefits for public employee’s. As for the rest I am not interested in the mud slinging. There may be lot of others who think like me - but then again there may not.
choices
And are you willing to allow us to decide how much you should be paid and what benefits you should get. Considering the amount of education and the responsibilities of the librarian and teachers jobs (helping to raise (yes, raise) and educate children and adults. ) We are at the bottom rung— Attack those who brought the economy down— the banks, insurance companies, etc. The NON-taxpayers — the CEO’s who are still taking home huge salaries and benefits. Check out these new jr. senators and representatives. Did one—even one—say NO to their new benefit package.
First: The benefits paid to
First: The benefits paid to public-sector employees are not handouts from the government. They are deferred compensation, taken out of the employees paychecks and invested collectively. The taxpayers do not contribute a dime to these pensions - but state governments all over the country have been more than willing to raid these funds to support their own budgets - so they can avoid raising taxes and risk getting voted out of office. Want to know why teacher pensions are underfunded in so many states? That’s why.
Second: Scott Walker and the Republicans in the Assembly caused the budget shortfall for which these actions is the purported solution, by giving tax breaks to wealthy corporations - who coincidentally support the Republican Party.
Finally: Are Walker and his colleagues going to make sacrifices for the common good by cutting their own salaries and benefits? What do you think, boys and girls?
Wrong wrong wrong . Let look
Wrong wrong wrong . Let look at the study done in 2010:
authored by Joan Gucciardi, a Milwaukee-based actuary, detailed that Wisconsin’s pension system—which includes all state and local workers from maintenance workers to university faculty and local teachers—is overly generous, especially when compared to pensions provided by private-sector employees. It is generous in the benefits it provides to retired employees, and it is especially generous in that it asks employees to contribute nearly nothing to fund their retirement. More than 99% of the cost is picked up by state and local taxpayers.
Call it deferred compensation or manna from heaven - the point is that it done not come out of an employees paycheck - it comes out of tax receipts that we all pay
Actually, it is your supposed
Actually, it is your supposed “facts” that are wrong, wrong, wrong. Taxpayers do not pay 99% of pensions. In fact, in state after state, taxpayers have reneged (even in those so-called good times) on the amounts they were supposed to have paid. Employees do pay toward their pensions, money which is invested in the aggregate. You also ignore the windfall protection act: many public employees (teachers, librarians, police officers, firefighters, etc.) pay into state pensions funds (required to do so by law) even after they have paid into social security for years - yet this federal law prevents them from collecting their paid-up social security “benefits”. There are plenty of things that are wrong, wrong, wrong - but treating public employees (while you still have some people willing to take those jobs) like freeloaders or incompetents is the real wrong.
Let's Look at the Root Cause of the Problem
You say that it comes out of tax receipts that we all pay. Well, so do the tax breaks that Gov. Walker gave to wealthy corporations. You can’t make a contract to pay public employees certain wages and benefits that you know will cost so much money, turn around and slash taxes on the richest in society, and then complain that you don’t have enough money to pay out the contract. That’s like you signing a mortgage, taking a salary cut at work, and then saying you aren’t going to pay the mortgage. Can you imagine the bank saying, “Oh, well, he doesn’t have the money, so we have to let him off the hook without penalty!” Why not take a look at why the insurance industry is making tremendous profits at the same time as it is raising premium prices at record rates?
The reason Wisconsin and other states, like NJ, have deficits is NOT because public employees agreed to accept lower salaries NOW in exchange for deferred compensation like modest pensions and health benefits LATER, but because politicians like Gov. Walker (and, in NJ, former Gov. Whitman and current Gov. Christie) like to play shell games that benefit the wealthy to the detriment of the middle class and poor.
I don’t know about Wisconsin, but in NJ, not a single cent of taxes pays for my pension plan. Employees agreed to accept lower salaries in exchange for deferred compensation in the form of a pension. The way it was supposed to work was that employees accepted lower salaries NOW in exchange for the security of a guaranteed pension LATER. The employees and the state were each supposed to pay into the system. The state was supposed to manage the plan extremely conservatively, so that it would grow and be able to pay for the CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION the state willingly took on so that it wouldn’t have to pay out salaries that were comparable to private industry. The employees kept their part of the bargain, but eventually, the state broke it. The end started 16 yrs ago, when Gov. Whitman (GOP) decided to give her wealthy friends a tax cut. Guess what? The state no longer had enough money to afford all of its obligations. Rather than do the right thing, admit she had been wrong, and repeal the tax cuts, Gov Whitman decided that she not only wouldn’t pay the REQUIRED payments into the pension, but she would STEAL money from the fund to “balance” her budget. She also put a stop to the extremely conservative investment approach, and got the pension fund into very risky investments, which eventually crashed. For 13 of the last 17 years, the state has paid NOTHING into my pension plan. Meanwhile, public employees continued to pay into the system - even agreeing to pay a LARGER percentage of their salaries into the system to help the state solve its growing budget problems. But the state STILL refused to do its part. So now, 16 years later, we’ve got a tremendous deficit, a pension system on the verge of collapse, and it is ENTIRELY the fault of politicians like Gov. Whitman.
lower paychecks for pensions
>Employees agreed to accept lower salaries in exchange for deferred compensation in the form of a pension. The
>way it was supposed to work was that employees accepted lower salaries NOW in exchange for the security of a
>guaranteed pension LATER.
That’s what happened in WI, too.
I’m really sorry you folks in NJ and WI and OH are having all this trouble with your elected-by-corporate-cash politicians. I live in a “right to work” state (like many in the South), and without the right to organise, workers are significantly worse off, just in terms of work safety, let alone salaries and benefits. I hope that the union busters don’t succeed at making things worse for you, too. We Americans need protection for labour rights like they have in the EU (the right to collective bargaining, as well as other workers’ rights, is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights).
laffer curve
Remember that the money individuals/companies make is first and foremost theirs to keep — Equating tax breaks to costly benefits is like comparing apples to oranges. Using your logic all money should be subject to 100% taxation. And we we poor citizens should be lucky to keep what is left over after taxes. Take a look at the Laffer curve for some perspective:
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/06/the-laffer-curve-past-p…
Yes, it does come out of your
Yes, it does come out of your taxes. It is the price of during business in a civilized society where we all need help making the community a healthy, happy, productive, constructive, nurturing and safe environment.
I hear there are survivalist cabins available in Montana. Help yourself.
union dues - smunion dues
Now that the Gov has broken the chains of oppression forced on you by your union paymaster; it will be interesting to how many of you voluntarily pay dues. I guess a bunch of union stewards will have to find real work !
Oh nice! “Crap and the
Oh nice! “Crap and the O’other side”. So much for librraaians being an educated, cutured group! Hahahahahahaha. I guess Marian really and truly is dead.
I LOVE the rich. If it weren’t for them, libraries would be poorer. Ever hear of Carnegie and those who endowed libraries? Those institutions did not become what they were by folks sending in their nickels and dimes.
Fact it: the middle class as we know it is a recent phenomenon. Used to be the rich and the poor, and it looks like that is where we are again headed. Stop pointing the finger only at the Republicans. There is plenty of blame to go around. The Dems are the one who established the Welfare State, failing to recognize a basic principle: you dhould not do for someone what he can and should do for himself. You only make him dependent.
This country faces many serious problems, and the simple fact is that ALL of us are going to have to give something up. We used to be a people to whom sacrifice was no stranger; now, we have become a nation of whiners and entitlement.
As the beloved Ann Landers used to say, “Quit your bitching and wake up and smell the coffee!”.
A Concerned American
Carnegie's other side
Carnegie, like most of the modern corporate barrons of today, accumulated his wealth off the backs of his laborers through impoverishing wages and barbarous working conditions. His steel was so cheap because he treated his people so cheaply. His exploitation of those workers should not be overlooked because of the self-indulgent largess he gave later in his life. (His gifts could have been made anonymously if he truly wasn’t seeking immortality on the walls of the libraries he built.) As one person noted, “It was hard for workers who worked twelve hour days six days a week in brutal conditions to find time to read.”
Unions have made unreasonable demands over the years, and they should not hold public services hostage. However, neither should the exploits of any modern-day philanthropists be excused because they make “generous gifts” to some segment of society of their choosing. Historians credit Henry Ford for saving this country from socialism at the turn of the last century by paying his workers a decent wage. Sharing a small part of the profits was the best investment he could make, he knew. “I pay my workers so they can buy my products.” Many of the rich today would not have the wealth to give away if not for generous tax breaks, monopolizing business tactics, and denial of decent wages and benefits to the workers who actually make the products. A decent profit is a fair benefit of our capitalistic system, but the scale is quickly tipping out of whack today as the wealthy eliminate all competition to their power.
This attack on unions is part of a larger power struggle. Some of the Republican politicians have blurted out that the campaign against unions is as much, if not more, about eliminating the strongest financial backer of the Democratic party — the nation’s unions. As others have pointed out in this forum, why are we so bent on bringing down the people who actually do the work of serving and producing our products? Is it to deflect attention against the CEOs and speculators who are trying to increase their already unfathomable wealth while seeking to reduce even the basics to their productive workforce? It’s always seemed odd to me that people talk about not wanting to “give their hard-earned money to the government” (i.e., pay taxes), yet they see no connection to the services they enjoy: libraries, police and fire protection, military, food and drug safety, etc. that are provided by hard-earning public employees.
Instead of talking about knocking part of the middle class down to the bottom, why not talk about raising the bottom up by sharing some of those riches with those who also contribute to its making? Let’s learn from Henry Ford and do the right thing!
Barbakoff
Cool down, honey, no one is saying that you or any “public servant” is taking anything. Face it: you and your ilk are are at or near the top of the food chain when it comes to total compensation (salary, leave, benefits, etc.). You have a job, good working conditions, are able (by your own admission)able to go to the doctor, are able to prepare for retirement (with a defined-benefit pension, no doubt).
I suspect you all are the envy of many who will have to work until they drop and never will have a retirement as you will know it. The public’s anger—and the Republicans intent to dismantle—is at the often exorbitant employment systems that allow big bucks, especially when it comes to retirement and health care. The simple question is this—to those public servants in states with huge unfunded pension liabilities (and I originally am from Illinois, a state with a huge, if not the worst, shortfall): how are you going to keep promises and “rights” obtained by the public-employees unions in flush times (and even then out of whack with reality)? If there is no money, how can you expect that retirement check to come every month?
Your anger should be directed at those politicians who did not make sure pension funds were adequately funded and at Wall Street fat cats that allowed the economy to tank, and at those unions which allowed this country to be eviserated of the manufacturing jobs lost and/or sent overseas. Be angry for those who have no voice and be outraged and livid that there is no Mother Jones! and be thankful that you have something many folks do not have.
A Proud Republican
Ilk? Hardly. And while you
Ilk? Hardly. And while you go check your “facts”, you might wish to also check the polls: people are not happy at all with your Republican friends. It is no accident that you and your ilk did not win the Senate last year - and it is unlikely that you will retain the House at the rate you are going, let alone the Presidency. Where are all those jobs your Republican friends promised? Oh, that’s right: you’re cutting jobs. You are pursujng your own social agenda. You are pretending to fix budgets, when in reality the economic concessions you wanted have been given. You are reneging on pretty much all of your promises. Let’s see how the common folk feel in those recall elections, the impeachment drives, and especially in 2012….honey.
The pension fund in Wisconsin
The pension fund in Wisconsin is fully funded. That’s why Walker wants to get his hands on it.
for the the so proud republiKan
I don’t belong to any union. I contrary to you am NOT a republiKan… instead I am an AMERICAN, who cares about American’s interests and wellbeing.
It is really sad when I have to read posts like yours criticizing and condenming the many achievements that people like this librarian have achieved thoughout his/her life and instead applaud that the rich who do NOTHING … specially the Wall Street one … can take all our patrimony and pocket it.
Shame on you!.. you guys lost your values LONG ago and it is TOO LATE for you all anymore. You don’t have a nation anymore. All that has value for you is MONEY… nothing else.. that is your god… that is what you worship..
Tell me something… Who was more EVIL.. Hitler or the people that followed him?
Good luck when you are in the other side .. may God forgive you for having touched the lowest of the low one can fall.
Reply to A P R
What a complete load of crap. Anger, if any, ought to be directed at the Republican party and literally ignorant people who proclaim themselves to be proud Republicans.
What part of the party platform do you not know?
What a waste of time responding to you. I hope you direct your anger to actually reading about the issues prior to unloading this kind of crap in public.
What does this have to do
What does this have to do with being allowed to negotiate your standard of living? Are you willing to let your employers set all your terms with no say by yourself? Communicating does not cost a thing. The public workers of Wisconsin offered to cut their salaries by 8 percent. 8 percent! That is a huge cut for anyone. They showed they were very willing to help the economic situation, but nobody else was. I guess bargaining means one side gets all.
Hip Unions?
So, now you like unions because the people you see are youthful, hip and dress well?
It is done !
Wis. Republicans bypass absent Dems, strip collective bargaining rights from public workers
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/sns-ap-us-wisconsin-bu…
ALA Balanced ?
This is two weeks in a row that ALA Direct is advocating for public sector unions. I suppose it plays well to most ALA members- however there are likely many members looking for coverage that attempts to put an issue in perspective - rather than being so obviously one- sided . How about an opposing viewpoints type article ??
Absolutely!
I agree. ALA seems to spend way too much time advocating for certain causes, almost invariably those that appeal to a Democratic/Liberal position. I agree there should be advocacy from the ALA, but for the core issues surrounding and affecting libraries. In many ways it feels like the ALA’s executive members have certain pet issues based on their own political leanings, which in turn direct the focus of the entire organization. This is unfortunate because what ends up happening is that ALA (and the libraries that support it) becomes a political operative which may be negatively affected when their preferred political party is not in power. If, however, ALA focused its support on things like quality education, open information, improved literacy, etc., the organization would be well received by all political parties.
Gosh, you mean funding isn’t
Gosh, you mean funding isn’t an issue that surrounds and affects libraries? The ALA does “focus its support on things like quality education, open information, improved literacy, etc. ” It’s the Republicans on every governmental level who are trying to destroy all these things - in the name of solving a budget crisis for which they themselves were directly and indirectly responsible.
Funny how conservatives get all up in arms when workers try to influence legislation, but have no problem with corporations doing the same thing.
Reply to librarian, re: I'm not your scapegoat.
Beautifully stated, Audrey! I have friends who are librarians in Los Angeles; they are caring, hard working individuals who drive long distances, work with educational organizations, and deal with the threat of budget cuts and work insecurity; I’m sure they agree with you and support you 100%, as do I. While I’m “only” a temporary employee, I work for a state organization, whose employees are also under constant threats of furloughs, layoffs and salary cuts, regardless of the fact that they are a social service agency, responsible for helping homeless, mentally ill youth, families and seniors. I do not begrudge my “permanent” co-workers their hard-earned wages, medical coverage and penson, and if I am fortunate enough to join their ranks, I will need the efforts of my local union to effect such changes for my future security as well. You are correct in asserting that we all need to work together and not allow ourselves to be divided by manipulative politics.
new day in America
It is true that for the past fifty years ( since 1959) the progressives have held sway and many pro-union policies were hatched here. Hopefully Wisconsin can now lead and become a model other states use to bring balance to the power of public employee unions. This is the medicine needed with the current economic and demographic shifts taking place. Take a look at these report from “Liberal” sources:
Urban Institute
http://www.urban.org/publications/900895.html
The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Chief Actuary projects that the number of Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance beneficiaries per 100 workers will increase from 25 beneficiaries in 2000 to 26 in 2010, 32 in 2020, and 39 in 2030
Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Reformed-Broker/2010/0706/79-milli…
There are approximately 79 million boomers in the American populace and the first wave of them turn 65 in the next year (2011).
We better get to fixing this soon. Bravo Governor Walker !
Thanks so much Republican Supporters.
Are you kidding anything that has Christian and Science in the same phrase is the same as having Military Intelligence it’s redundant. You consider that a source??? HA
Secondly to the anon at the top who’s most recent comment is chirping FAUX news misinformation, the only reason YOU or anyone else has benefits in their job is because Unions forced the over payed lazy execs to get off their fannies and provide a much needed set of plans for the workers futures. Vilifying ANY union is as un-American as allowing the internet to be controlled by corporations or turned off by the feds.
Finally any idiot that believes Gov Walker should be celebrated as a hero has no clue what they are talking about. Not only is he lying to the public about the problems in his state he’s lying about his intentions by not working with the unions who have ALREADY made all the concessions he asked for. other states rethuglicans have begun the attack on the people who support Democrats in elections which is the REAL strategy overall that anything he does is for. It’s no better then the rethuglicans trying to take away public radio and public tv and control what we view on the web so they can just do anything they wish to us and we won’t be the wiser. Everyone who voted Rethuglican in November, thanks so much for helping them take away our benefits, destroy our media, and control our thoughts.
sorry voters have choices
You are welcome on behalf of the 52% who supported the Governor !
support for Walker - oh really?
That’s “supported,” past tense, all right. “Sorry voters have choices” is true, too: they’re sorry about the choice they made. More and more are regretting having voted for this nutcase. Most Americans are well aware that the people Walker is demonizing, like schoolteachers and librarians, work hard and don’t get paid very well, and are not to blame for the state’s economic difficulties. (Do you really think it’s just a coincidence that Wisconsin was actually operating on a surplus until Walker came along and that the projected budget deficit is so close to the amount of his massive tax cuts for the wealthy?) Since his position is untenable on rational, moral, or financial grounds, he’s resorted to some particularly pathetic namecalling, like when he portrayed the protesters - a lot of whom are women - as “union thugs.” The threat to call in the National Guard was another dumb move: with Kent State still engraved on their collective consciousness, the Guard is not about to use force to disperse peaceful protesters. For a while, though, with the crazy things Wisconsin Republicans were suggesting, it still looked like they were out to create a rival for the Tienanmen Square massacre. I’m glad that they’ve backed off so that didn’t happen…they seem to have realized that while Americans may be willing to accept a certain degree of sleaze and corruption in their politicians, we will not let them get away with such total disdain for basic morality.
The volume of the protests and the decline in support for Walker has shown the nation that most Wisconsin folks are decent people who aren’t adequately represented by corrupt, sleazy politicians who give priority to partisan interests at the expense of fiscal responsibility and even plain old human decency. It’s particularly galling that public school teachers and other public-sector workers in Wisconsin have accepted lower salaries for many years in exchange for a good pension, and now Walker and his fellow corporate stooges are trying to renege on this agreement by denying them that pension. Try to imagine how you’d feel if you had been teaching for forty years and had made retirement plans based on the pension you were supposed to get. I know that many Republicans are lacking in normal human compassion and empathy, but surely even Walker and his union-bashing pals can see that that teacher would feel betrayed.
The sad thing is that if Walker pulls this off, all these ordinary working people are going to pay for what is really just a grossly partisan attempt to punish unions for supporting the Democrats. (In case that’s not obvious enough, they made it even more obvious by exempting certain unions, like the police, that just happen to have supported Walker in his gubernatorial campaign.)
tactics ?
So having the Democratic Sate Senators running away when they don’t agree with something is not untenable, irrational , immoral and disenfranchising ? Boy do you have blinders on !
What they did was the only
What they did was the only way to protect the public sector workers of Wisconsin - and I am proud that my state has offered them shelter and support.
Walker: immoral, irrational, disenfranchising, plain f-ing nuts
T. Brightwater: Agreed, and thumbs up to your state for supporting them. What the WI Dems did was an unusual move, but I confess, I really thought it would work (I didn’t realise just how little respect Walker and his cronies have for the law). I admire their tenacity; if only more Democrats shared this quality. I hate how our only choices are a lame party and a radicalized party. I’ve been wondering lately whether we shouldn’t reform our election system to allow for coalition governments that involve third parties (this would prevent the well-known third-party sabotage phenomenon and allow multiple parties to flourish).
The extremists who control the Republican Party these days have been destroying the economy with their vast tax expenditures and are out to eliminate a lot of our basic rights. Their talk of fiscal responsibility is hogwash when they’re pushing enormous tax expenditures. And the Dems in Congress are wusses (that is, if that’s how you spell it), letting the GOP/Tea Party lot get away with their “no compromises” stance. (Don’t encourage them!)
A lot of people, and “anonymous” is apparently one of them, don’t seem to understand that democracy does not mean simply “majority rules” — that’s known as “mob rule.” Democracies have to protect people’s rights even when they’re in the minority. That’s [one reason] why the Republicans going ahead and breaking the rules by “passing” their budget without quorum is undemocratic.
We can’t base economic decisions on ideology; we need to base them on the needs of the country and what’s most likely to make things better. Whether you agree with his decisions or not, Obama at least listens to experts rather than ideologues. He isn’t just trying to keep the party bigshots happy or making facile gestures to please his “base,” like most politicians do; he’s actually trying to fix the economy…in contrast to Walker, who is plainly influenced primarily by ideology (and perhaps also by some tit-for-tat promises he made to those who funded his gubernatorial campaign). The only trouble with the evidence-based economics approach is that too many economists are guided by ideology themselves. You have to find the handful who are motivated by a genuine desire to find out what works best.
BTW, I’m not a partisan; I’m an independent (like many Americans who are sick of party politics) who happens to be particularly disgusted with the extremist elements that have taken over the Republican Party. I’m not crazy about the Dems either (like I said: wusses), but at least they’re not a bunch of fanatical ideologues, and I’m impressed with the courage and tenacity shown by the WI Dems. You can call it “running away” but that’s just name-calling; it doesn’t actually have anything to do with the reality of the situation and doesn’t make any point except that you don’t like Democrats or unions or whatever. But the Dems are not the ones who are breaking the rules here; they did what they had to, hoping that the Republicans would actually get the message (you know, from the huge crowds of protesters) that a lot of people are really upset at what they’re trying to do. This was, at worst, rather naïve of them. Walker has shown an amazing capacity for complacent self-deception, labeling the protesters “union thugs” (when in fact they were never anything but peaceful — compare his threat to bring in the National Guard) and alleging that they were mostly from out of state (I see no reason to believe this allegation, although it may be that some of them are). He was never going to respond to the protesters with anything but dismissiveness or force.
Isn’t it bizarre how the same people who whine about the influence of unions on politicians seem to think that the much vaster (and extremely corrupting) influence of megacorporations is just peachy? Speaking of blinders… There are lots of “special interests” that influence politicians on both sides of the aisle — the military, veterans, law enforcement, religious groups, parents’ groups (remember Tipper Gore and her censorship campaign?), professional groups like the AMA, etc. — but the corporate lobby makes them all look puny.
(Once again, much longer than I intended. :) I hope somebody finds something here useful.)
Voters have choices, and by
Voters have choices, and by the looks of it, Walker will be dealing with a recall just as soon as he’s eligible to be recalled.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a politician so quickly and so badly overplay his hand and piss off so many of his core constituents. It’s really quite impressive.
perspective
Your thoughts play well in the union hall and in bastions of liberal group think such as UWM; not so much on main street. As for the threat of a recall - I say go ahead let’s call your bluff - the voters of Wisconsin will hardly be motivated to kick out a guy who is trying to fix a fiscal crisis - just so public works may continue to enjoy proven over-generous pensions !
Please explain to me how
Please explain to me how taking away the rights of workers for collective bargaining can balance the budget or pay bills. Please explain. If you are indeed a trained Librarian, it seems like you would be much smarter then to allow yourself to get played into the political game. Years of lack of fiscal responsibility by the legislature and governors, including the republicans that you claim are trying to balance the so called “budget” is the cause of the financial crisis of most states. Not the modest salaries and benefits of public employees.
That “fiscal crisis” was
That “fiscal crisis” was engineered by the governor for the purpose of breaking the unions - at the bidding of his billionaire paymasters. And, one more time, these pensions that are supposedly breaking the state budget are deferred compensation - withheld from the employees’ paychecks and invested collectively. What part of this do you not get???
Keep in mind that the unions
Keep in mind that the unions were willing to accept cuts in pay and benefits, but the governor insisted on taking away the right of American to bargain. Keep in mind that Wisconsin’s budget crisis was in part created by a major tax cut to corporations just enacted by Governor Walker. Large financial institutions have done far more harm to the economy of the country than public sector unions, and when the public unions are broken, as seems likely to be the case, average wages will drop even more sharply for most Americans. The American middle and working classes have been fooled into fighting among themselves, and leaving the vastly wealthy untouched.
the big picture
The benefit cuts the unions/dems agreed to would only fix the problem this year - collective bargaining is the problem - giving so much power to unions who then influence elections and threaten those who oppose them - naturally leads to a bloated corrupt public union system - Since 1959 the unions have really just been a tool used to keep the gravy train running by “rigging” election with the threat of having union workers throw out and intimidate elected officials that would oppose them. So to keep this problem from re-occurring it is logical and paramount to limit collective bargaining.
As for the current fiscal crisis the Governor has only been in office for a few months - his tax breaks can hardly be blamed for the existing 3.6 billion deficit. Secondly while you may not agree - tax break do have the potential to spur economic development and consumption and they are available to all residents- bloated pension’s are only available to the public employees.
Issue is more complex than most people understand from news
Having a very close relationship with someone who worked for 30+ years in the collective bargaining unit with the State - not to mention three relatives who are teachers - I’ve been following this issue closely since it began. I don’t think people who just pick up the story from the news really get what Walker’s budget repair bill and proposed end to collective bargaining really means. This is epic - our federal system is based on Wisconsin’s model.
Just one small example: my sister is a teacher - without the ability for her union to use collective bargaining to get seniority layoff positions in their next contract, if there are layoffs at her school that following year it would be entirely possible that even though she’s got five years more experience than teacher X, she could go first, just because there was an arbitrary decision that maybe kids liked teacher X more. It could be that silly. So why should she pay union dues if she has no union to protect her?
There’s also the Right to Work vs. Fair Share issue.
I agree with absolutely everything Audrey wrote - Walker is turning this into a “lazy public employee who’s been sucking on the teat of the state budget for too long” vs. the hardworking public. I know exactly what the loss of collective bargaining will mean and it makes me ill - this talk of, “well it can be undone in two years,” doesn’t cut it. There are ways to restrict what can be bargained for and what can be offered, I know absolutely.
On topic, for God’s sake, support your public libraries and librarians. They don’t have nearly the funds they need or the salaries they deserve for the wonderful things they bring to our communities. Has anyone anywhere ever said a library ruined their life? I can’t even imagine what sort of dolt I’d be if I’d never had access to mine when I was a child.