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| How AFSCME Fared in the Budget Battles Editor's Note:This story is reprinted as written in December 2001 as an important snapshot in time. At that time various federal proposals and some local adjustments were still being made in the budgetary wars. If the domino theory has merit, it is in the area of government budgeting. Federal monetary choices knock against state choices, which knock against county, municipal and school decisions, which bang against other governmental units and sub-sectors, which reverberate around the table, producing a noisy cascade of falling blocks and finger pointing.
They are accustomed to being bounced around by the whims of politicians. In 2001, they were reminded how deeply they could also be buffeted by nationwide economic fortunes. And then that all proved tame on Sept. 11 as we dealt with the emotional and social aftermath of a savage attack on the heart of American values and confidence. Amid continuing civilian anxiety at home and military war overseas, the budget wheel churned on -- but with pronounced differences. First, the image of the American worker may have been profoundly changed and more deeply valued because of Sept. 11 -- not just through the deaths of police and firefighters but because all manner of working families were at the center of the horror. We learned and cared about the lives of those on airplanes and at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We were drawn to portraits of grieving families very much like ours. We saw that the economic engine is manned and fueled not so much by CEOs and conglomerate deals but by the enterprise of everyday folks with everyday grit. We were reminded on all fronts how much we rely on our public workforce in all its forms and on the nonprofit agencies that rush to a crisis. The second difference is that any level of governmental budget decided today may have to adjust tomorrow, depending on what further crises and financial concerns emerge. Most of the these budgets were shaped, argued, revised and approved by November. Throughout the process, Council 48 was involved in a range of official responses and private discussions that had good success, softening hardships on quality public services and job security. It was quite a turnaround from last August when there was a lot of gloomsday talk among union leaders and rank and file. Good arguments, strong campaigns and intense focus by members, local presidents, board members and staff made quite a difference. But this is now a non-ending process. We're technically in a recession, political issues of real importance as well as petty motives have resurfaced, we're in a real fight internationally and we are all dealing with the ongoing concerns about bio-terrorism. So nothing has stood still. Or will. Herewith a scorecard of sorts, touching on the budget battles, outlining successes and disappointments and undoubtedly forecasting some larger issues that will remain on our radar screen for quite some time. The Federal Budget As we went to press, some of the final decisions on "economic stimulus" were unsettled. But too many of the proposals bandied about in Congress represent serious attacks in the future on public workers - and unquestionably a resurrection of partisan politics, though no one wanted to call it that.
On the reverse front, it was fear of unionization that lay underneath the bizarre gap in the airport security bills - one version passed by the Senate 100-0 and an extremely revised bill in the House reflecting White House and GOP opposition to a federalized security force. The public in late November polls clearly sided with the federalization idea, and the compromise bill mandates federalization, albeit with time constraints and weakened worker rights. Why were Republicans at first violently opposed? Pundits on both the left and right pinpointed their unspoken concern -- a federal security force would be easier to unionize, and unions tend to vote Democratic. The most contentious issues, though, centered around the economic stimulus packages and the individual proposals within that seemed to miss the mark, especially since a host of economists reported that after Sept. 11 the initial impact of layoffs and job elimination fell on the most vulnerable in our workforce -- minorities, single mothers moving off welfare, working class and poverty-level workers who had started climbing the economic scale. That, you would think, would make it a lousy time to cut back on public services in such areas as health, jobs, and so forth. There will clearly be more pressure on governments to provide safety nets, so such services should be strengthened, not weakened. Those economists hoped for good news in all those new federal bills being created in response to the terrorist attacks. Yet the emerging incentives seemed to do little for those on the bottom rungs while doing a lot for those comfortably high up on the economic ladder. There is a natural and noble tendency to support the commander-in-chief in times of war, but many of the proposals took on the flavor of pork barrel slobbered into larger bills, forcing citizens to question what's underneath such fine-sounding labels as "economic stimulus" and "anti-terrorism." Even Fortune magazine, hardly a bastion of labor sentiment, noted that few of the proposals "would instantly boost spending by individuals or corporations, which should be the goal of any stimulus plan." Continued Fortune's Jeffrey Birnbaum, "But in their zeal to appear engaged, legislators are likely to try anything as long as some key constituency approves. . . . The terrible truth is that a $10 trillion economy doesn't turn around just because Washington wants it to." AFSCME International was also working in this time frame with the public health community for $1 billion additional support for state and local public health and hospital preparedness, just as the Bush administration seemed to be backing away in favor of pharmaceutical stockpiling. Council 48 went to bat and urged Sen. Kohl (D-Wis.) to support the Senate Leadership Bill, which he did. It offered much-need unemployment extensions and help with COBRA financing for health insurance. Unions were also leaders in pointing out how some schemes to reward big business would actually bang hard on state budgets. One proposal could cost states $5 billion a year in lost revenues because it pushed tax breaks for large corporations via new expense breaks for business investments. Since states tend to follow federal rules on expensing and depreciation, that could cause significant decreases in state revenues. Final resolution of all this was undecided as AFSCME 48 went to press. State of Wisconsin Budget Two months after approving Wisconsin's two-year fiscal budget, Gov. Scott McCallum froze state hiring. The freeze exempts public health and safety workers, and the University of Wisconsin system should also escape because of its own budget savings. But the hiring freeze, which McCallum directed Department of Administration Secretary George Lightbourn to impose starting Nov. 12, quickly affected the state's ability to fill 500 jobs and could also delay particular programs with special meaning for counties, schools and municipalities. McCallum blamed the Sept. 11 terrorism and its impact on the economic landscape -- job losses, increased expenses for security and uneasiness in the business and consumer sectors. He offered what many perceived as a uselessly broad forecast of potential revenue shortfall: between $300 million and $1.3 billion. Some Democrats have suggested the governor should wait to see if the economy rebounds in the crucial holiday buying season to get a better picture of what is happening. The freeze has been labeled by many as a small and probably symbolic first step. The state tax savings from the freeze is only $10 million, set against those guesswork shortfall predictions that start at $300 million. But it sets the groundwork for McCallum, who is resisting any tax increases, to cut the state budget further or call a special session of the Wisconsin Legislature to address the issues. It was less than two weeks before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that McCallum completed his line item vetoes creating a two-year $47 billion budget from what had been passed by the legislature. (We provide details of this somewhat curious mix of vetoes.) That budget, McCallum still insists, was actually $25 million less than the expected revenue projections at that time. Critics argue, however, that even that original budget ignored clear signals in the economy not to expect future investments and revenues to grow as anticipated. So there will be a continuing dispute about how much the terrorist attacks bear responsibility for the shortfall projections and how much the governor's actions exposed the queasy nature of the state's fiscal projections. Milwaukee County Budget Back and forth went Milwaukee County's budget process, finally concluded Nov. 14 and requiring supervisors to override several vetoes by County Executive Tom Ament. Last August, Ament's fiscal edicts to county divisions looked like bad news for the county's public workforce, encouraging layoffs and privatization proposals to pop up all over the place. Aggressive leadership by Council 48 staff and locals deflected a lot of the potential harm to quality service. The biggest shock to the AFSCME county workforce actually had nothing to do with the budget but with the child welfare debacle last May. The impact fell on Local 645, which provided human service workers to both child welfare and aging programs. Initially, it looked as if close to 300 AFSCME members would lose their jobs because of this decision. Now, says Wayne Krueger, president of Local 645 and a member of Council 48's executive board, 301 of the 509 human service workers in his local will continue such roles with the county. This came about through a series of arbitrations and negotiations that confirmed AFSCME's view of seniority rules and also opened discussion of other jobs.
Still, the final tabulation validates the tremendous and intense effort by Local 645 and Council 48 in minimizing the damage. In addition, all clericals attached to the child welfare programs found transfer work within the county. The budget created some reductions, some additions, some successful deflection of the worst ideas and some strange limbo situations for jobs in the county's largest local, 882 (parks, zoo, airport and public works). Ament's cuts in several of these areas brought the humorous suggestion that he was clearly praying to the weather gods for an unusually hot winter and an unusually cold summer. Otherwise, we could be in big trouble. Consider the airport parlay. To help balance the budget, Ament held off on some $25 million in Mitchell Field improvements, and to help airlines recover from the terrorism fears he added a $3 million break by eliminating terminal and ramp fees for the rest of the year, reducing landing fees and cutting all the above in 2002. To achieve that, Ament is leaving vacant some three dozen seasonal jobs in Local 882 that help facilitate snow-plowing and maintenance issues, at the same time as security issues slow the passenger boarding process. Local 882 leaders say the remaining workforce will simply not be sufficient to handle bad weather situations as in the past. Then come the pools and the beaches, which proved a godsend last summer during that incredible heatwave. Meteorologist Ament obviously hopes that won't happen again. Supervisors overrode his decision to eliminate lifeguards at Bradford Beach, but the lifeguards will be gone from five other beaches. Union arguments helped save indoor pools Noyes and Pulaski from closing, but several indoor and outdoor pools, including Madison and Moody, will be shut. Incidental cuts in parks and public works were also reversed. But Local 882 leadership was keenly disappointed that the supervisors left intact the plans to transfer operations of three senior centers (Kelly, Rose and Wilson Park) from parks control to the Department of Aging as well as removing the operations of the Will-o-Way camps for the disabled at Grant and Underwood parks from parks control to the Office of Disabilities. In both cases, that means the county will turn to private contractors to operate these programs. In total, these actions eliminate about 14 union positions. The senior center change was opposed by seniors three to one in recent polling. The county clearly hopes the transfer will make the centers eligible for federal funds for aging programs, but seniors and the union leadership fear that, in order to fit federal rules, the county will have to limit membership and emphasize things like adult day care over recreational opportunities, as well as turning to private contractors to create all this. Chris Ochalek, vice president of Local 882, while praising supervisors for standing up in many instances, thinks what happened this budget round is a signal of more dangers to come. "It is very clear that Milwaukee County is being forced to govern only necessary services and that the Quality of Life mantra of our forefathers is being pushed out the window," Ochalek said. "We are going to become an entity of highway workers and jail-keepers." One place supervisors did stand up was to reject efforts to slash mental health services and privatize those operations. Union leaders expect such schemes will come back in the future but consider this a big victory, not so much on the job issue but mental health represents a vital and successful county service to the community.
The county board approved and funded Human Services to enter into a contract with the state's Department of Workforce Development that would add about three dozen new county positions and solves a big problem with the state's W-2, the job-focused welfare replacement program. The proposal grew out of recommendations of an advisory panel that handles complaints about the W-2 program. Private contractors were saving money and even had profit incentives to not let clients know they were eligible for a service. If a client didn't ask for a particular service, the agencies didn't tell them about it, and financially benefited. The new proposal would make county workers the gateway to the private agencies running the program, providing initial assessments of those seeking assistance and informing these clients of what services are available. County workers are clearly best positioned to help people navigate through the social system to the programs that best fit the needs of their families. The proposal is being held up at the state level, partly because of issues with the legislative joint finance committee, which apparently hadn't been well sold on the project. So the state's workforce division secretary, Jennifer Reinert, has put it on hold to work out the problems - optimistically, by next summer. City of Milwaukee Budget If you look past the added fees imposed on everyone in the budget approved by the Common Council from Mayor John Norquist's original outline - in other words, if you look just at how the jobs of AFSCME members were affected - "This was a better and less painful budget than we've seen in several years," said John English, president of Local 47 and one of Council 48's two administrators of the city contract. The other administrator is John Garland, president of Local 33.
Otherwise, the battles were small and Council 48 was largely successful. The final budget restored six positions that Norquist had eliminated -- special equipment operators for Department of Public Works fleets and buildings -- and it also restored two inspectors and a nuisance control specialist for neighborhood services. Also restored were four of 10 seasonal positions slated for elimination in the DPW forestry force that handle such services as turf maintenance and boulevard mowing. "It was a bizarre process in some ways, because it was so focused on capturing revenue from tax-exempt properties through fees that this was where most of arguments fell," said English. "There were cuts in several capital spending projects that don't have a direct effect on our Council, though it appears those cuts probably will cause layoffs of several trade people from other unions." |
