2009 is drawing to a close. It has been an eventful year for our Union and for our members. Much has happened, both good and bad.

Executive Director Richard Abelson writes a regular column for the AFSCME 48 newspaper.

    On the positive side, we completed a major renovation of the Union’s headquarters at North 35th Street and West St. Paul Avenue, which brings the building into the 21st century, making it viable for our membership for decades to come. This renovation added an elevator so that our members and retirees with disabilities have full and complete access to our building. It also added a disabled accessible washroom and made cosmetic improvements to the building’s front and side. These changes were long overdue, and we can take great pride in our investment in both the neighborhood and our long-term vision of our Union’s role in our community.

    Jobs secured in city, suburban pacts. Also on the positive side, we were able to negotiate many labor agreements that protected the job security of our members. The contract that got the most press was our agreement with the city of Milwaukee, which provides job security to our members through 2011. However, there were numerous suburban contracts that accomplished the same goals.

    These contracts could not have been achieved if our local Union leaders and members did not recognize the need for action in these extraordinary economic times. The leaders of our Union saw that the need for innovative thinking has never been greater if our members were to weather the terrible economic conditions and preserve the services we provide as well as our members’ jobs. These contracts did not come without sacrifice, but we remained focused on the future.

    On the negative yet at the same time positive side, the leadership of our Union underwent a major transition earlier this year under difficult circumstances. I extend my congratulations and thanks to Brian Stafford, the newly elected president of DC 48; Cathy Muir, the long-serving secretary of DC 48; and Paul Wasemiller, the newly elected treasurer of DC 48.

    I also would like to extend my congratulations and thanks to the entire executive board of DC 48. Our executive board comprises dedicated rank-and-file members of our Union, whose service to our members is seldom acknowledged — and, in my opinion, much under-appreciated.

    I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize what is happening in Milwaukee County. As you can read elsewhere in this edition of our newspaper, things have not gone well for our members who work for the county. We negotiated a tentative agreement with the county in good faith. The tentative agreement coupled sacrifices by our members with job security. Sadly, the County Board rejected the tentative agreement.

    We unfortunately are saddled with elected officials in Milwaukee County who lack the courage and vision to lead the county and resist Scott Walker’s desire to dismantle county government. I want to sincerely thank those County Board supervisors who supported the integrity of the bargaining process and voted in favor of the tentative agreement.

    To those County Board supervisors who opposed the tentative agreement, and to one supervisor in particular, who supported the tentative agreement and then screwed our members in the budget process, please note that we have long memories. Our Union was here before you were elected, and we will be here fighting for our members and our community long after you are gone.

    New challenges ahead. 2010 brings us new challenges. We look forward to the governor’s election in which the candidates could not offer us a clearer choice. Our PEOPLE Committee has endorsed Tom Barrett. We have not always agreed with the positions Tom has taken as Milwaukee’s mayor. However, we have never questioned Tom’s dedication to public services and his commitment to the citizens of Milwaukee.

    Contrast that to his likely Republican opponent, Scott Walker, whose only commitment is to his ultra-conservative ideology and a self-serving ambition to gain higher office. Walker has been running for another office since the day he was elected county executive. His slash-and-burn philosophy has devastated the programs and services so many citizens of our county rely upon every day. We simply cannot allow Walker to bring his brand of devastation statewide (as much as we would love to get rid of him locally).

    In closing, I wish all of you a healthy, happy and prosperous holiday season, and a much better 2010.

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July 2009
On raising the bar for all – and reframing the debate

    There are many, many reasons to be proud members of AFSCME at the national, state or Council levels. Our organizations run at extremely high levels of efficiency in the face of dramatic challenges.

    Not enough attention is given to the hours and hours of “behind the scenes” activities that our Union engages in every day in order to provide representation to the 1.4 million active members we represent nationally and internationally, the tens of thousands of members we represent in the three Council affiliates in Wisconsin, and the 10,000+ members right here at D.C. 48.

    The services we provide under our huge “tent” are far-reaching, and extend well beyond traditional contract negotiations and contract administration, which most members think of as the traditional services. They involve legislative activities at all levels of government (federal down to local municipalities), public affairs and communications, public policy, political activities and organizing, among other functions.

    We represent a diverse group. Consider the logistical problems in representing the diverse group of workers we represent at DC 48. Our core majority of members are local government public-sector workers. However, we also represent about 2,000 private-sector workers. Some of these private-sector workers were formerly public workers who have seen their operations privatized, such as the former Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District employees now working for Veolia, the former Milwaukee County employees now working at the Milwaukee Public Museum and the former Doyne Hospital employees now working for Dynacare.

    But over many decades, we have organized and represented many other private-sector workers. On the private, non-profit side, we represent workers at Catholic Charities, the United Way, Milwaukee Center for Independence, Legal Action and many others. On the private, for-profit side, we have represented employees at Dental Associates for more than 25 years; recently, we affiliated almost 500 Milwaukee employees at U.S. Bank. In addition, we organized home child-care providers during the past few years. More than 800 home child-care providers are now members of DC 48.

    Resisting and reframing. As we try to cope with the challenges of the current economy, there is tremendous pressure on employers to seek new, and sometimes even more stupid, ideas on how to cut our wages and benefits (i.e., furloughs). And there is even more pressure on employers privatize the work performed by public workers, or outsource the work performed by private-sector workers.

    We can and will resist these efforts. But we have to keep in mind what is driving the mindset that shapes these issues. Our neighbors and friends have taken huge hits in these trying economic times. They have lost their jobs due to plant closures and downsizing. Many of those who are still working have taken pay cuts and seen their retirement savings decimated. When their employers provide health insurance, they are paying $500, $600, even $1,200 a month just to keep their families covered.

    The elected officials are listening to these good people, who have done nothing wrong, but are victims of this economy which has been devastated by corporate greed and the terrible national policies of the past 10 years. The debate also is fueled by the ultra-conservative, know-nothing, talk radio personalities who make their living spinning hate, chaos and dissension, and contribute nothing positive to society.

    Answering the mobilization call. We need to take control of this debate. Why are we allowing the arguments to be about how much we should have taken from us? Why aren’t we shouting that we want the debate to be about raising the bar for all workers? Why aren’t we demanding answers to questions like, “Why we are rushing to eliminate decent paying, family-supporting jobs, and creating subsistence level minimum wage (or barely above) jobs in their place?” As Union workers, we know how fortunate we are to have affordable health care. But why aren’t we screaming that health care and health insurance shouldn’t just for the fortunate, it should be the right of all Americans?

    We will be asking our membership to mobilize in coming weeks on these questions and other issues. We know that AFSCME members will answer the call, and turn out in great numbers for your fellow Union members, your neighbors — and yourselves.

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July 2009
The trouble with furloughs and grandstanding gimmickry

    Furlough [fur-lo], n. — to lay workers off from work, especially temporarily; a leave period granted a prisoner, usually as a reward for good behavior and to reduce incarceration costs; recently replaced the dog as an elected official’s best friend.

    Just ask Tom Barrett or Scott Walker: Furloughs are their new best friend. There are, however, some differences in the positions these two notable public officials recently took.

    Let’s take Mayor Barrett first. He has fully admitted that the city of Milwaukee is not in crisis mode for 2009. He stated publicly that the reason for the furloughs was the impending budget crisis coming in 2010 and 2011, and his intent to start dealing with this crisis early. His proposal to furlough city employees for two days (one of which has already occurred) was done in conjunction with three-day holiday weekends to give employees some value added at the same time they were losing income.

    We are challenging the city’s implementation of the two furlough days through our contractual grievance procedure.

    A disingenuous explanation. County Executive Walker is not nearly that forthcoming with the truth. His reason for attempting to implement the furloughs? A supposed $14.9 million deficit. Rather than gracefully back off when it became apparent that his economic crisis was phony, he stuck to his guns. He intended to go forward with reducing the workweek (from 40 hours to 35) for most county employees even after his lies were exposed and the real county deficit was revealed to be somewhere between $4.4 million (less than one-half percent of the total budget) all the way up to a $600,000 surplus.

    From Walker, there was no assertion that the county would be saving for a future economic crisis. It was simply a headline-grabbing, stupid power grab by the grandstanding, wannabe governor.

    Walker apparently forgot to read the county ordinances. We filed a grievance against his reduced workweek, and we prevailed (see page 1). We challenged Walker that the right to reduce employee hours (after the budget is set) is vested with the legislative body of government — the County Board of Supervisors. By county ordinance, the county executive does not have the unilateral right to cut hours. We also argued that a prior arbitration decision limited the reduction of hours to a temporary reduction. Walker’s reduction through the end of year, and perhaps beyond, was more or less permanent.

    Fitting “King Scott’s” attitude that he doesn’t make mistakes, he pouted in the media after he lost. He’s appealing the arbitrator’s decision.

    But this simple analysis begs the real issue. Both the mayor and the county executive chose to grandstand over this issue and announce their intentions in the media before ever sharing their thoughts with the Union.

    We need to be engaged in the dialogue. It is no secret. Our Union is no fan of furloughs. For decades, our collective bargaining agreements have contained reduction in workforce language which predicated reductions using the seniority layoff provisions of the agreements. At no time did the city or county ever propose to replace our seniority layoff language with across-the-board furlough language at the bargaining table. Also, no Union member has ever proposed that we abandon our seniority layoff language in favor of across-the-board layoffs.

    Make no mistake, we are all about saving jobs. But we need to be engaged in a dialogue before we can determine what is to be gained from furloughs. Neither Barrett nor Walker ever tried to engage in any dialogue. As such, the position we took was based on our contract language.

    Walker says that it would be useless to talk. However, that flies in the face of the progressive results we have reached with employers who have engaged us in real crisis negotiations, such as MATC and the Milwaukee Public Museum.

    In the absence of an overall strategy and a total agreement, furloughs are nothing more than a gimmick. They put off the hard decisions on program and service cuts. That is why furloughs are popular among elected officials. Why make hard decisions when you can make public pronouncements and pretend you are doing something meaningful?

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May 2009
‘Hybrid’ Income Maintenance model puts us back on the quality services track

    During the past few months, we have been engaged in a project that was just finalized in the past couple of weeks. I am speaking about the state takeover of the management of Milwaukee County Income Maintenance services. With the passage in the State Legislature of Assembly Bill 194 and its companion bill, Senate Bill 161, the path has been paved for the smooth transition of these programs from being county run (or in reality, Scott Walker mismanaged) to state run by people who really want to see services effectively delivered to Milwaukee County citizens with critical needs.

    The “hybrid” model utilized by the state in this transition is extremely creative, and we are confident that it will prove equally effective. From the standpoint of the 300 or so AFSCME 48 represented employees, it also means job security in these uncertain and difficult economic times.

    By proposing and implementing the hybrid model, Gov. Doyle and his representatives in the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families clearly sent the message that the dedicated, hard-working frontline workers — who worked for years under the mismanagement of Walker and the incompetent leadership of Corey Hoze, among others — were not at fault for the critical problems that exist in delivering these services.

    It’s about quality services & jobs. A tremendous debt of gratitude is owed to Gov. Doyle and his staff, and to the Milwaukee County Legislative delegation. This includes, but is not limited to, Sen. Lena Taylor, Sen. Spencer Coggs, Rep. Tamara Grigsby and Rep. Chris Sinicki. The delegation’s leadership on this issue was both courageous and forward-thinking. Unfortunately, there are members of the County Board who still do not understand why our Union was supportive of the hybrid model and why we worked so diligently to see the implementing legislation passed. There were two reasons and only two reasons — jobs and quality services.

    In the face of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, we do not believe it would have been a good idea to put 300 high-quality county employees out of work and make them reapply for their own jobs with the state. If they were lucky enough to be rehired (best-case scenario: about two-thirds of them would’ve been hired), they would have had to start as new employees with no seniority, no vacation and no sick leave.

    It was ‘hybrid’ or complete takeover. Some County Board members seem to think that if there hadn’t been a hybrid model adopted, the state would simply have let the county continue to run the program. To those County Board members, I respectfully request that they recall what happened to Child Welfare, and how a majority of the County Board members who were serving back then threw our members under the bus when the state came in and terminated the Child Welfare relationship with the county. The state was as serious as a heart attack when it told the county in no uncertain terms that it was going to take over Income Maintenance.

    If the hybrid model had not adopted, the only alternative was a complete takeover.

    We did what our members expected us to do. Be absolutely certain that we will always opt to protect our members and their jobs. We regret that folks we consider allies disagree with our position, but we are a labor union and will always pursue the result that advances our values and represents the best interests of our members.

    The real issue is Walker’s intentional failure to provide adequate services to people in need in our community. Walker has carried out a policy of slash-and-burn government and mismanagement in order to fail, so he can reward his cronies and privatize as much as he can. Walker has falsely tried to convince the general public that the issue is the pension benefit, or some other issue that he thinks would advance his candidacy for governor. These are pure and unadulterated lies.

    We know that well-intentioned members of the County Board wanted to do better. We know they sincerely wanted to fix Income Maintenance and keep it as a county operation. However, they are simply not empowered to manage the day-to-day operation of any facet of county government. It was beyond their ability to “fix” these services in the face of a hostile and anti-government County Executive.

    State to county employees: ‘How can we do this better?’ It is now time to look forward to working with the state to provide the citizens of Milwaukee County with the high-quality services they deserve and are entitled to. The state has actually come in and, for the first time in memory, asked the employees for their suggestions on how things can be done better and more effectively. Needless to say, the floodgates opened and opinions flowed freely. On that point alone, contrast the working environment that the state is creating to the toxic work environment of the Scott Walker-managed Milwaukee County.

    The hybrid model makes possible the return of the Income Maintenance functions to Milwaukee County in a few years. We all look forward to a time when these programs can be returned to County government where they belong.

    Needless to say, there will have to be major changes before that happens. The biggest change will be replacing Walker with a county executive who wants to provide government which serves the people of Milwaukee County.

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February 2009
In Walker’s world, ‘stimulus’ still means tax cuts and trickle-down economics

    As the vast majority of the American people celebrate the administration of President Obama and hope with great optimism that there are better days ahead, our hopefulness is tempered by the knowledge that the last eight years of Republican control have left us with the worst economic crisis in the last 70 to 80 years.

Last month, our Union engaged in one of the most grueling budget cycles we have ever endured. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker continued his unrelenting attack on the essential services and programs provided to the citizens of this County.

    Yet, even in the face of the vast failures of the last administration, the conservative diehards continue to beat the drum of their failed economic policies. I picked up a copy of Forbes magazine the other day, and there was a commentary by the publisher, Steve Forbes, blasting the Obama stimulus plan and instead advocating for more of the same old tax cuts that the wealthy enjoyed over the last eight years. The rationale is that individual Americans can spend their money better than the government can spend their money.

    This argument does have some intrinsic attraction. Who doesn’t want more cash to spend? However, this philosophy of “free” spending and lack of oversight is pretty much the reason we are in the mess we find ourselves.

    Our own joke of a County Executive, Scott Walker, came out with his version of this economic philosophy during his Feb. 16 “State of the County” address. After first categorically rejecting Milwaukee County participation in any stimulus money, he is now proposing that the County rebate its 2009 portion of the property tax and declare a sales tax holiday for all of 2009 as an appropriate use of stimulus money.

    It appears that Walker is now convinced that stimulus money is coming our way. He just can’t stop himself from trying to come up with a way to put that money directly in the hands of wealthy people (who are overwhelmingly his supporters) instead of finding meaningful ways to make that money work for the middle class, the unemployed and the other “at risk” people in our community.

    Of fallacies and failed economic policies. There are multiple fallacies to the Walker proposal. For example, the tax holidays he proposes are currently not legal. Obama’s stimulus package is designed to keep folks in their jobs and create employment so that we can rebuild the economic foundations of our community and our Country. I am a home owner and would personally benefit significantly if I didn’t have to pay the County share of property taxes in 2009. But what would I and others likely do with that money?

    Most likely, I would apply it to student loans taken out for my kid’s education. Perhaps I would pay off some of my credit card bills or put it into a savings account. I might spend part of those dollars on a consumer purchase, but even if I spent every last dollar of the property taxes I get back, it would not be enough money to employ a single person in a family-supporting job. And unless a huge number of us coordinate our spending patterns, there is little hope that enough money would be poured back into the local Milwaukee economy to provide a major bump.

    Also, substantial numbers of Milwaukee County citizens rent. They are important contributors to property taxes through their rent, but do not pay directly. They tend to be young workers who have not yet purchased homes, folks who can’t afford to buy homes or people who have lost their homes (in large part, not Walker supporters). They get no tax break when their landlords enjoy a property tax rebate. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for my rent to be reduced because my landlord enjoyed a property tax windfall.

    The sales tax holiday is just as phony. We don’t pay all of our sales tax at one time. Most likely, I would not consider my daily sales tax savings significant enough to sock away every day to then spend on another purchase. Even if I am one of the lucky ones who still plan to make a “big-ticket” purchase, I would probably choose to upgrade the item with my sales tax savings, or get what I originally set out to purchase and simply to spend the extra money. In any event, it is extremely unlikely that I would take the sum total of all the money I would save during the year-long sales tax holiday and make a “big ticket” purchase I didn’t already plan to make.

    Let’s get real. The Obama stimulus plan is the opposite of the last eight years of greed and manipulation by the wealthiest people in our country and their conservative Republican buddies. It is a stimulus designed to invest in our communities and our infrastructure, get people back to work, create opportunity for our youth, rebuild and strengthen our middle class, and jump-start our economy.

    Government can do this better than the invisible hand of trickle-down economics. I, for one, am no longer willing to wait for wealthy people to spend money so that eventually the rest of us can see a small piece of the action. It didn’t work for the average citizen the last eight years, and it won’t work in the future.

    Scott, take your failed economic policies on the road when you run for governor. I can’t wait for the entire state to reject them.

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December 2008
Mismanaging with the intent to fail: The Walker Saga continues

    Last month, our Union engaged in one of the most grueling budget cycles we have ever endured. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker continued his unrelenting attack on the essential services and programs provided to the citizens of this County.

    Budget cuts are just one prong of Walker’s nefarious efforts. We can fight those directly — head on, so to speak. But some of his other efforts are less direct, and are only visible if you scrutinize carefully or happen to be a county government “insider.” I have characterized these Walker efforts as “mismanagement in order to fail.” I hold to my assessment.

    Let’s examine two of Walker’s underlings. The first is Corey Hoze, Director of the Department of Health and Human Needs. The best thing I can say about Hoze is that he seems to put in long hours, although I wouldn’t exactly call it quality time. Take the Call Center, which recently has been in the middle of much media controversy. There is absolutely no question that Hoze is intentionally mismanaging the Call Center in order to justify the privatization of the operation.

    The Call Center crisis. The functions of the Call Center are critical. The Center is the gateway for clients in need to access the critical safety-net services the county administers. It is supposed to be staffed with more than 20 employees so that citizens calling in don’t have to wait so long before they talk to an actual person. However, in Hoze’s own budget narrative, he admits that the average staffing of the Call Center has never been higher than 16 workers. Often, because of illness or other time off, the average staffing levels are 11 or lower.

    As the dialogue heated up over the budget deliberations, and the Call Center controversy became a focal point of dispute, Hoze cynically heated up the staffing shortages by failing to assign other qualified workers to the Call Center to fill in for absent workers. He then passed on the information on to his allies in the community, namely the Scott Walker surrogate, Hunger Task Force, so they could mount a massive campaign on Walker’s and Hoze’s behalf to privatize the Center.

    Let’s be absolutely clear on this point, Walker’s and Hoze’s transparent undermining of quality services hurt some of the most at-risk people in Milwaukee County — the people Hunger Task Force claims to care about — for blatant political purposes and in the face of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

    The Ceridian boondoggle. As I write this column, the fate of the Call Center is up in the air. The votes do not appear to be present on the County Board to support Walker, Hoze and the folks at Hunger Task Force. However, the votes are also not there to support a veto override vote (in the face of a likely Walker veto) to increase staffing at the Call Center, which actually would make the Center work for the at-risk population needing the critical services. In the meantime, Hoze continues to manage with the intent to fail in order to justify privatization with Walker’s blessing. I personally told Hoze that I thought he was the most incompetent Director of Health and Human Services for at least 25 years, and possibly ever. He is a joke when compared to his dedicated predecessors. But terrible performance seems to be what Walker wants.

    A second Walker underling who also fits the profile is Racine reject Dennis John, whom Walker picked to manage the information systems division of Milwaukee County. One would think that being able to generate an accurate seniority list for union employees in the County would not be a big deal. After all, this is not a new expectation. Seniority lists have been provided by the County to the Union for decades.

    But the County has a new data system — the boondoggle called Ceridian, for which the County has spent millions of dollars — is more than two years late coming on line, and still cannot perform the most basic of functions. We met with John in mid-December and he informed us that it could be, in his words, “years” before we get an accurate seniority list.

    We are not interested in a seniority list as an intellectual exercise. We have layoffs coming up in Milwaukee County. Without an accurate seniority list, how can we properly protect the contractual layoff and bumping rights of those targeted workers? But it doesn’t stop there. Without accurate seniority lists, vacation selection picks cannot be made, overtime cannot be properly assigned, and job postings cannot be properly filled.

    Shed the dead weight. The day-to-day mismanagement of Milwaukee County is a conscious effort of Scott Walker and his underlings. The efficient operation of the County is secondary to Walker’s interest of sucking up to his rich business contributors, and creating an agenda to run for governor.

    There is a need to clean house and get rid of the Walker administration’s dead weight. We only hope that the majority of County Board Supervisors will wake up and hold Walker’s feet to the fire before it is too late for so many at-risk people who rely on the critical programs and services Milwaukee County provides.

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August 2008
Securing our future: Customer service in the public service

    As I read the local newspaper and Internet blogs, I am constantly struck by the criticism leveled against public employees and the work we perform on a daily basis. Let me forcefully state that from A to Z, I believe public employees almost always perform their jobs with professionalism, courtesy and dignity. Public services, virtually without exception, provide taxpayers with the most cost-effective — and accountable — programs and services.

    Yet, hardly a week goes by where a newspaper article or blog alleges some perceived horror story regarding the delivery of a public service, or relates some horrendous experience a citizen encountered when dealing with a governmental entity.

    Are we correct when we say that 99.9 percent of all public services are delivered without incident and to the satisfaction of the public?

    Can we dismiss these statements as merely being the product of disgruntled folks who had unrealistic expectations or invalid claims to begin with?

    Is there something more sinister at work?

    The answer to all of the above questions is YES.

    Dismantlers with intent. At our recent International Convention in San Francisco, Sen. Hillary Clinton, when referencing the current state of federal services and the current Administration’s attitude toward public service, stated: “The current Administration’s motto seems to be, ‘If it ain’t broke, we haven’t tried hard enough.’”

    Make no mistake about it, there are elected officials (including our County Executive) who are trying to dismantle government. They’re managing so that government, and the employees who perform those services, fail. They short-staff and the workloads become impossible to accomplish. In the case of our 24-hour, seven-day institutions (jails, mental health centers, juvenile justice facilities, etc.), the workload is often just plain dangerous. Yet, these same elected officials blame the workers who perform miracles every day just to keep the operation going.

    But there is another side of the coin. At times in the face of the pressures of elected officials who want to see government fail, bad management that won’t (or in some cases can’t) manage the work effectively and/or short-staffing due to budget reductions, some public workers lose sight of the fact that they are in the public service. Regardless of the pressures we face, that’s something we can never forget. We’re in the public service to make our communities a better place to live, work, play and raise families. Treating everyone with dignity and respect is essential when performing of any public service job.

    Staying the ‘service’ course. As I stated at the outset of this column, I sincerely believe that 99.9 percent of all public service by public-sector workers is performed to the satisfaction of the public and without incident. A portion of that other 1/10th of 1 percent can be attributed to disgruntled citizens with unrealistic expectations. But there is a portion of justified dissatisfaction with public programs and services caused by public workers who have simply lost sight of why they do what they do.

    We must get them on track and remind them that “customer service” is critically important in the public sector — for all the reasons you know. And for this one: By making customer service our priority, we remove the argument from the menu of reasons our enemies give to dismantle government services. Here it is, in basic terms: job security.

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June 2008
Infrastructure crisis calls for CETA-type solution

    Summer approaches and our weather continues to give us fits. The record, or near record, snowfall of the winter of 2007-08 left its mark. Potholes plague us on many streets; driving on some of them is like riding a roller coaster at Six Flags Great America.

    Now, record rainfalls and tornadoes are putting a greater strain on our resources. We're contending with downed trees and power lines, flooding along our rivers and in low-lying areas, and in most of our homes, flooded basements. Yet, when we look at the misfortune of homeowners in the Wisconsin Dells area, Lake Delton in particular, our problems do not seem as overwhelming.

    In a bigger-picture context, though, the holes in our roads, the strain on our resources, underscore a deepening crisis all its own: our deteriorating infrastructure. It’s not just happening in our community. It's happening in virtually every urban area (and more and more rural communities) in the United States — from the bridge that fell last year over the Mississippi River, killing and injuring dozens of people, in Minneapolis-St. Paul; to the failing or soon-to-be-failing dams in rain-ravaged in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. But it is happening here, and the evidence is becoming more and more apparent.

    A collection of crises. Last year, a city of Milwaukee study indicated that the basic maintenance cycle of street replacement has been extended into the 22nd century. The replacement of water pipes has been delayed, even though many water mains are already 100 years old. The deferred maintenance of the Milwaukee County Parks System has been calculated at $500 million; the longer we defer, the more expensive the repairs become.

    These represent only a small slice of the critical infrastructure issues that continue to spill over into our daily lives — and at a time when we're experiencing some of the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression of the 1930s, no less.

    There's the housing crisis, with home foreclosures increasing by 75 percent in 2007 and likely to accelerate dramatically this year with 2.5 million loans scheduled for rate resets. Low-income and minority homeowners are suffering disproportionately: 55 percent of mortgages obtained by African-Americans and 46 percent of mortgages obtained by Latinos are sub-prime.

    There's the fuel crisis. All of us feel the pinch at the gas pump. Nobody thought gas would cost more than $4 a gallon in June, 2008 — or, as some now predict, $5 a gallon gas by the end of the year (if not sooner). There's the trade deficit — it's growing while the dollar is at a 60-year low against foreign currencies.

    The consequences? The middle class is disappearing, and manufacturing jobs are being eliminated and shipped overseas. Good-paying jobs are lost. When jobs are being created, they're primarily of the low-paying, non-union variety — which drives down the standard of living for all working families. On top of all that, health care is becoming unaffordable for millions of American workers, and eating up resources which would otherwise be available for wage increases for those of us fortunate enough to still have health insurance.

    A call to action. Yet the Bush Administration remains deaf, dumb and blind to the crises around us, and unsympathetic to the plight of working people. Its policies have fostered a relentless shift in the distribution of income and wealth into the hands of the top 1 percent of all wage earners.

    It's time to sound the emergency bell — or re-sound the unheard or ignored one that’s been clanging for some time now. Our Congressional leaders need to act immediately to provide tax reduction incentives and federal funds for research to companies that invest in rebuilding our core manufacturing base industries.

    Many of us remember the CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) program of the 1970s. It provided a path for thousands of workers to become public employees, and enhanced the provision of critical public services — and, in turn, our infrastructure — that would otherwise not been affordable to local governments.

    We still have many members who started their careers in public service as CETA employees. We need a CETA-type program now — before it's too late for millions of American workers, our nation's infrastructure and, frankly, our future as a nation.

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March 2008
Lena Taylor: A proven leader who’ll get us back on track

    The April 1, 2008, spring election provides all AFSCME District Council 48 members, their families and their neighbors with a historic opportunity. For more than five years now, our County has been held hostage by the right-wing ideology of Scott Walker. The results have been catastrophic.

    Sadly, Milwaukee County is falling apart — as the billboards say, “I blame Scott Walker.” The list of severe problems is too long to fully review. But here’s a sampling:

    * Our parks system, once the crown jewel of Milwaukee County, is in a state of abject neglect and deterioration due to Walker’s mismanagement, staffing cuts and flawed vision. There’s $300 million in deferred maintenance in the Parks Department alone. This is a debt our grandchildren will be saddled with for decades.

    * The Milwaukee County Transit System, once honored as America’s best mid-size transit system, is in complete disarray, having fallen victim to Walker’s annual service cuts and fare increases.

    * The County’s Public Aid office is unable to respond to critical client concerns due to chronically short staffing and unreasonably high workloads. The budget for the office has fallen by 10 percent since 2002 when Walker took office (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/14/08).

    * In January, the National Institute of Corrections issued a report citing dangerous security breaches, along with bad management and over-crowding, at the House of Correction in Franklin and the downtown work-release center (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/25/08; also see page 7 of this newspaper). “Systematically poor security,” “exceptionally deficient fire safety” and “very low” employee morale spell danger for staff and the general public.

    * Meanwhile, $91 million in federal transportation money is in jeopardy because Walker refused to collaborate with other local officials, like Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, and agree on a plan to spend the money to benefit Milwaukee County citizens.

    She’ll take a practical approach. Fortunately, we have an alternative. State Senator Lena Taylor is a proven leader. She has the vision, experience, compassion and dedication to lead Milwaukee County and get us back on the right track. Lena is committed to the hard-working citizens of Milwaukee County.

    We need to get back to the business of solving Milwaukee County’s problems. Lena will do just that. Under Lena’s administration, we will not be held captive to Walker’s doctrinaire policies. She’ll take a practical approach to governing — and she, unlike Mr. Walker, will work with the County Board, other governmental bodies and key stakeholders.

    We can make history. Also: Lena understands the unique and vital role that County employees play. She knows County employees need to know that their time is valuable and their work is important. She recognizes that productivity, efficiency and morale go hand in hand. So: All AFSCME members can be movers and shakers on April 1, 2008.

    We need to talk about Lena Taylor — as well as about our other endorsed candidates — and convince all of our Union brothers and sisters, their families, their friends and their neighbors to get out and vote on April 1.

In this holiday season, those of us who enjoy a secure job and economic security should not forget those among us who are less fortunate.

    We have an opportunity to elect leaders with vision and courage. We can end the five-year nightmare. We can make history. We can take back our County.

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December 2007
A few glaring negatives aside, we’ve had a pretty positive year

    2007 has been a mixed bag of goodies, most of them of the positive variety. On the flip side, we have ended the year with one glaring negative – the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s decision to privatize its wastewater treatment operations. Again.

    I don’t know what the majority of MMSD Commissioners were smoking when they voted earlier this month to award a 10-year contract to the French-owned, multinational giant Veolia, but it had to be something pretty strong. Administration at MMSD claimed an annual saving of $3.5 million over the next 10 years when compared with re-municipalizing the operations.

    No profit for 10 years? Yet, by Veolia’s own admission, the privateer did not build into its offer any profit for 10 years. They also have to assume 25 percent of the increased energy costs, and claim they will increase staffing over the levels of the prior privateer, United Water Services (a division of the French-owned giant Suez).

    Unless Veolia, in coming to Milwaukee, suddenly has become a non-profit corporation, any child should have been able to see through the unrealistic terms of the offer.

    Not our MMSD Commissioners! The majority of them bought into those unrealistic allegations hook, line and sinker. Not only that, they also bought in to the fact that the past 10 years of privatization have been a good thing for the citizens of Milwaukee, the workers and the environment.

    In any event: I want to thank the four Commissioners who voted against the Veolia contract: Lyle Balistrieri, State Rep. Pedro Colon, State Rep. David Cullen and City of Milwaukee Alderman Ashanti Hamilton. They had the courage to stand up to phony allegations of MMSD’s Administration, and to stand for the public good. They also had the fortitude to stand with the workers. Thank you, thank you and thank you.

    We grew this year. On the positive side, our Union grew in 2007. The affiliation of the U.S. Bank Employees Union, 500 members strong, now Local 777 of AFSCME, was a wonderful thing. We competed for the Bank Employees against two other International Unions. We believe that the Bank Employees Union chose wisely when they opted to affiliate with District Council 48, and we will work hard to demonstrate to the Bank Employees the wisdom of their decision.

    In October 2006, Gov. Jim Doyle signed an Executive Order allowing 7,000 (about 1,600 in Milwaukee County) Home Child Care Providers to organize a Union. In March 2007, the vast majority of the Home Child Care Providers, statewide, chose AFSCME as their Union.

    I have been actively involved in negotiating the first agreement on behalf of the Child Care Providers. When that agreement is negotiated, our membership will increase significantly. This was another tremendous victory.

    Advocating for the disenfranchised. Our Union continues to be a major force in our community. Our mission is to improve the lives of our members and their families, but we also have a broader mission to make our community a better place to live and work. We must advocate for those members of our society whose voices are not heard, particularly those who for whatever reason are less fortunate.

    In this holiday season, those of us who enjoy a secure job and economic security should not forget those among us who are less fortunate.

    Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2008.

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November 2007
Duly noted: Facing difficult choices, Milwaukee’s aldermen, Mayor Barrett, County supervisors stepped up at budget time


    Every year we look to October and November as a time where the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County budgets take center stage. This year was different. The Wisconsin State budget, which should have been passed in July, was held hostage by the Republican-controlled State Assembly and stole most of the spotlight.

    The irresponsible Republican leadership in the Assembly tied up the budget with ultra-conservative initiatives, such as gouging public-sector collective bargaining laws. They attacked public-sector pensions, health insurance and sick leave, and pursued drastic cuts in transportation funds and the state compensation reserves.

    In the face of this intransigence, the governor and the Democratic-controlled Senate were faced with difficult choices up against impending and potentially devastating deadlines. They crafted and passed the state budget, and unfortunately for our members and the citizens of Wisconsin, it did not live up to the promise of the initial budget passed in the State Senate.

    From disappointment to doing the right thing. The final budget disappointingly froze revenue sharing which all municipalities, especially Milwaukee, rely upon to relieve property taxes and provide essential city services. An unrealistic property tax levy of only 2 percent was imposed for fiscal-year 2009, although the governor was able to exercise his veto and raise the levy limit for fiscal-year 2008 to 3.86 percent.

    That said, there were are victories in this budget, such as the restoration of $69 million in funding to the Wisconsin Shares program (child-care services to low-income families), and a 3 percent increase in transportation funding, including $12.8 million for Mass Transit services ($8 million to Milwaukee County).

    On the city side, Mayor Tom Barrett and the Milwaukee Common Council passed a very responsible budget which preserves city services, and even slightly increases our membership within the city locals. We thank them for their actions. Although we may have differences with the aldermen and the mayor on individual issues, they have proven to be friends to our Union and our membership.

    How we’ll endorse in ‘08. Unfortunately, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker continues to attempt to dismantle County government. His proposed budget would have cut critical services to the county’s most disadvantaged and needy populations. He again tried to destroy the parks by cutting staff.

    The County Board did the right thing by restoring virtually all of the cuts, and then overriding his vetoes.

    I am often critical of the County Board, both in this column and in public. But I also will not hesitate to commend them when they do something right. The majority of County Board Supervisors did the right thing in this budgetary process.

    We will weigh the totality of the supervisors’ records when we make endorsements for the April 2008 elections. We will take everything into account, including their actions – or in the case of the vast majority of the supervisors, their inactions during our bitter contract negotiations which culminated in December 2006, their attempted blackmail of our Union, and the pending layoffs.

    However, the verdict is in on County Executive Scott Walker: He has to go!

    Walker’s tenure has been a disaster for the citizens of Milwaukee County and our members.

    He has proven time and again that he does not believe in county government; he has viciously declared war on every program that benefits the poor, the disabled, the mentally ill, and the disadvantaged children in Milwaukee County. He has attempted to destroy the county’s quality-of-life assets, most notably our great parks system. Time and again, his phony “no tax increase” strategy has brought our county to the brink of disaster time.

    Lena’s a shining light. Fortunately, we have a great candidate in State Sen. Lena Taylor, who in October announced her candidacy for Milwaukee County Executive. Sen. Taylor has proven her dedication to public service. Her knowledge of the critical issues facing Milwaukee County runs deep, and she’s committed to restoring the critical basic-need and quality-of-life services that historically have made Milwaukee County a great place to live and work.

    Thank you, Wendy. Lastly, and on a personal note: Wendy Strout, our Take Back Wisconsin staff person, will be leaving AFSCME to become director of the Wisconsin Civic Engagement Project. Wendy is a tremendous person with incredible talent. More than that, she is a great friend. I will miss working with her on a day-to-day basis. But I know that her work and ours will intersect, and that we will continue to benefit from her efforts. Good luck, Wendy.

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June 2007
Our New Progressive Agenda Took Center Stage at the 2007 National Leadership Conference


    Earlier this month, AFSCME International held one of the most important National Leadership Conferences ever held in the history of our Union. I was privileged to be one of the 2,000 or so AFSCME members to attend this conference in Washington, D.C., with brothers and sisters from all over the United States and Puerto Rico. There were about 10 of us from DC 48, and a total of about 35 from the three Wisconsin AFSCME Councils.

    What made this conference important wasn’t the forum held for the Democratic presidential candidates, although that made the national news. It wasn’t about the roll-out of the new AFSCME logo – a new logo, although nice, doesn’t change an organization.

    What made this conference historic and significant was that a new progressive agenda, utilizing the 21st Century goals we adopted at the 2006 International Convention, permeated the premises.

    Even more significant to those of us who’ve been involved with this great Union for many years was that the conference had a different “feel” to it – a palpable energy generated, perhaps, by our renewed focus and restated sense of purpose.

    Charting a new course. As you know, the goals of the 21st Century Committee were to create a new direction for our Union. Delegates to the 2006 convention realized that business as usual wasn’t going to cut it if we were going to rise up to meet the future’s many new challenges.

    With that in mind, we began charting a new plan of action, enhancing our capacity to succeed in the political arena and use politics to enhance the rest of our multifaceted agenda, which includes traditional collective bargaining and contract administration; the critical work of communicating with our membership and mobilizing for the myriad legislative battles we face; and positively influencing the budget struggles at all levels of government. These budget struggles directly impact all government workers, but also the workers we represent in private-sector service industries.

    The new direction also influences what is the lifeblood of our Union and the Union movement in general – ORGANIZING. Tying politics to the rest of the key Union agenda items was the most important message of the conference.

    We were sent home with a clear directive: reach 25 percent membership participation in the ASCME PEOPLE program in 2007, and 40 percent in 2008. It’s a daunting goal; we are currently at about the 10 percent level. But it is a goal we must strive to meet.

    The “ask” is simple: We are asking each of our members, who care about their jobs and the direction of our country to contribute $4 per pay period.

    What it’ll take to rise to the occasion. It’s a significant contribution, make no mistake about it. But it’s the most important investment you can make. We must have the resources to carry out our progressive agenda and influence the 2008 elections — from the White House to each city, village or town hall in which our members toil every day.

    When Wendy Strout, our Take Back Wisconsin staff person, comes to your membership meetings or meets with you one-on-one, listen to what she has to say. In the final analysis, I know our members will rise to the occasion and do the right thing!

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April 2007
Ongoing Museum Crisis Continues to Expose Privatization for the Bad Public Policy That It Is


    Old stories never seem to go away. During the past several weeks, the continuing saga of the Milwaukee Public Museum has been in the news. Once again, there’s an impending financial crisis. There is no need to rehash the sad debacle that brought us today’s crisis. But the entire sordid affair stems from a bad privatization deal hatched by stupid elected officials who were convinced that privatization was the “magic bullet.”

    The facts tell a completely different story. Prior to its mid-1990s privatization, the Museum had been a revered and treasured institution for 100 years. It took less than 10 years for the new management to run the place into the ground and spend the endowment fund illegally for operating expenses.

    During those same 10 years, the new management succeeded in raising their own salaries to ridiculous levels, creating all kinds of new executive vice president positions (which added little or no value to the Museum), and developed new perks for the VIPs.

    ‘It was our members who took the hit.’ The regular employees, Union members, did not share in the wealth. We negotiated regular wage increases, and the benefit levels did not rise beyond the norm. But when the crisis was revealed a couple of years ago, it was our members who took the hit. We were forced to give up about $2 million in concessions just to keep the Museum’s doors open.

    What did the other players in this drama give up? What concessions did the higher-up management make? What did the banks who hold the Museum’s debt give up? What did Milwaukee County — which ultimately is responsible for this fiasco by coming up with the privatization scheme in the first place — give up? The answer is simple: So far, nothing.

    To bail out the Museum two years ago, the County guaranteed a $5 million line of credit. The Museum has drawn down and used it, but has not defaulted on a penny. The $5 million line of credit has not cost the County a penny. Two banks hold the $20 million in Museum debt. So far, they neither have implemented any negotiated revised debt schedule nor reduced any debt or interest rates. Let me repeat: So far, only the employees have taken a hit. In the meantime, have you heard any credit given to them or words of appreciation uttered on their behalf in the press by the County Board Supervisors or the County Executive? I haven’t. Never mind that the employees have been directly responsible for keeping this community treasure afloat.

    I am not trying to diminish the efforts being put forward by Museum management to get out of this mess. The current leadership inherited the debt — they did not create it. It’s easy to raise money for a “sexy” exhibit, like mammoth bones. It is very difficult, verging on impossible, to get major donors to contribute money to pay off old debt — particularly when that old debt is tainted with the kind of history this Museum’s is.

    Privatization does not work! We applaud the Bradley Foundation and the anonymous donor for stepping up with a $5 million contribution to the Museum. We hope this spurs others to make major contributions. But don’t come to the employees and ask for any more concessions. We’ve already given.

    It is time for the County to step to the plate and do its fair share. After all, the County got us into this mess by privatizing the Museum in the first place. The banks, too, need to do their part. The challenge is for all of the stakeholders to strike the correct balance and put some “skin in the game.”

    Our elected officials have another challenge to meet, one that is uniquely their own: to find a way to get it through their heads that privatization does not work!

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January 2007
The County Contract: The Evolution of an Ordeal (squared)
    As I write this, the negotiations for a ‘05-‘06 and ‘07-‘08 contract with Milwaukee County appear to have finally been put to bed. To call these negotiations an “ordeal” is to understate the obvious.

    With the layoff of up to 130 of our members staring us in the face on Dec. 15, 2006, we went to court. We charged Milwaukee County, the Milwaukee County Board and the County Executive with having violated the law in trying to blackmail our Union into a contract through illegal threats and the use of layoffs as an economic weapon. The judge agreed with us and issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) prohibiting the layoffs.

    Real negotiations at long last. Under the threat of a Dec. 27 return to court — and the likelihood of the TRO becoming a permanent injunction — the County returned to the bargaining table and engaged in real negotiations with our bargaining team for the very first time since we began bargaining in late 2004.

    Our bargaining team set two major priorities: health insurance reform and job security.

    As detailed in the article that begins on page 1 of our January 2007 issue, “County Workers Ratify Contract,” we were largely successful in attaining both goals.

    The audacity of ‘no.’ Why did it take so long? Why were these negotiations so difficult? One response answers both questions: A lack of leadership from the County Executive and the County Board of Supervisors.

    The health insurance proposals we were making should have been no-brainers for the County. We were asking for a rational system of premium sharing for health insurance plans. We believe that if you select a less expensive plan, you should pay less in premium contribution for that plan. And we were asking for a wellness/disease management program to keep future health care costs down by keeping people healthier. Yet, our elected representatives failed to see the wisdom of these proposals until the 23rd hour.

    A more important question is: Why did the County-elected officials single us out for their venom and anger? The answer is far more complex, but it boils down to a single point: We had the audacity to look them in the face and say “no.”

    We stood up for our members. We also refused to cave in to their demands that we shift the cost of health insurance and health care onto employees. We insisted that we look strategically at how to hold down future health care costs.

    We simply refused to back down.

    The ‘rights’ fight. We also insisted that we were going to exercise our right to let an impartial arbitrator decide our contract. We filed multiple prohibited practice charges asserting that the County had bargained in bad faith. We even had to file a prohibited practice charge against a County Board Supervisor because he tried to interfere with the internal operations of our Union!

    We won’t forget. There are lessons to be learned from this long and difficult ordeal. For one thing, we must always stand up for our principles, and for what is right for our members. This is true no matter how much heat we take from elected officials, the public and the press.

    Similarly, we also must always have one eye on the future. For all of their statements of support, very few County Supervisors stood up for us. Friends don’t blackmail friends! My own County Board Supervisor wouldn’t even return my telephone calls. Of course, now that the negotiations are over, they all want to be buddy-buddy again.

    We will move on. We will work together with elected officials who wish to work with us. But we will not forget. The Spring 2008 elections are right around the corner.

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October 2006
Framing our ‘permanent interests’ in a political context
    Politics and budgets. Every October, budgets are the major focus of our Union. In October of even-number years, budgets share the spotlight with the major election cycle – either on the national scale or for our statewide constitutional officers.

    Every election cycle, our political folks tell us that more is at stake than ever before. I am one of the folks who have said that time and time again.

    It’s true again.

    We know that our membership base is spread across the political spectrum – there is no such thing as a typical Union member. Some are diehard Democrats, but a significant number are Republicans, and a far greater number are Independent.

    It’s not about party affiliation. As a Union, we usually endorse Democrats. Why? Democratic candidates support our positions. I would personally love to support Republican candidates – if we could find some that support us. The way we used to be able to.

    There is no “label” which defines a Union-supported candidate. I don’t care whether a candidate for office is a Democrat, Republican or a member of another party. If that person supports us, we will support them. As many of you have heard me say, “Our Union does not have permanent friends or permanent enemies – we only have permanent interests.”

    Sadly, the Republicans in our state have moved so far to the right that it is impossible for our Union to support them.

    In the last legislative cycle, Republicans voted on virtually straight party lines to pass TABOR (the so-called “Taxpayers Bill of Rights”), which would have destroyed public services in Wisconsin.

    They also voted to take away our right to negotiate health insurance at the bargaining table.

    And they would have imposed a QEO on all public employees that would have destroyed collective bargaining for our members.

    The only thing that stopped these disastrous events from occurring was Governor Jim Doyle’s veto pen. Make no mistake: The only pro-worker, pro-collective bargaining candidate running for Governor is Jim Doyle.

    You don’t want to wake up on November 8th with a Republican Governor and a Republican-controlled Legislature. Read about the Doyle difference in this newspaper. Read about the issues, and vote based on your most important financial asset – your job – and the most important thing going – the financial well-being of your family!! Vote for Jim Doyle for Governor and Barbara Lawton for Lieutenant Governor.

    Other critical races. While we remain focused on the Governor’s race, other races are also critically important.

    Kathleen Falk is our candidate for Attorney General. Besides being the most qualified person running for A.G., Kathleen has a proven track-record as the pro-worker Dane County Executive. Imagine settling your contract with your employer in two weeks. As the Dane County Executive, Kathleen didn’t just do that once, she has done it the last two contracts. Kathleen is unique in that she is both tough and compassionate. She will make a great Attorney General!!

    And: Please vote for the other AFSCME-endorsed candidates:

    * Incumbent U.S. Senator Herb Kohl;

    * Congresswoman Gwen Moore (U.S. Congress, 4th District);

    * Candidate for U.S. Congress Bryan Kennedy (U.S. Congress, 5th District);

    * Milwaukee District Attorney Candidate John Chisholm;

    * Incumbent State Senator Jeff Plale (7th District);

    * State Senate Candidate Jim Sullivan (5th District);

    * Incumbent State Rep. David Cullen (13th District); and

    * Incumbent State Rep. Barbara Toles (17th District).

    Together, we will make the difference on November 7th!

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July 2006
Our Union’s future? It’s here. What’s at stake? Only everything
    Much has happened within our Union, both locally and throughout the United States, during the past several years.

    In Milwaukee, we have experienced the County Executive’s relentless attack on public services, and his insane efforts to dismantle County government and services.

    We lived through the scandal in the Milwaukee Public Museum, which has left that revered and respected institution bankrupt — and still on the edge of disaster.

    We have seen the outright stealing of public money and resources that resulted from the privatization of W-2 by private agencies – agencies that allegedly had serving the public welfare at the core of their mission.

    We have seen how inept the State takeover and the privatization of the Child Welfare system and its profoundly negative impact on the at-risk children in our community. And the list goes on and on.

    Unfortunately, our troubles are not unique. The crises our Union brothers and sisters face in virtually every state have reached epidemic levels. In 2004, public-sector workers who fought for and attained collective bargaining rights in Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky saw their right to Union representation and collective bargaining wiped out with the stroke of a pen by newly elected Republican governors. In Indiana, the new governor destroyed a collective bargaining relationship that had been in place for 15 years.

    Public-sector pensions and health care are under relentless attack by elected officials who are looking to solve their budget problems by taking away benefits from our members rather than attempting to fix the broken health care and health insurance industries.

    These unimaginative — and, frankly, evil — politicians would rather take away hard-earned benefits from middle-class workers so they can protect the insurance companies, the hospital systems and the consultants. These buffoons would rather protect their gravy train than stick up for working people. In their “Bizarro” world, it’s about lowering the bar for those of us who still have benefits rather than finding ways to raise that bar for all.

    The challenges we’re facing are unprecedented. Since the biennial International Convention in 2004, our International Union engaged in a process through which we’ve dissected and analyzed our Union from top to bottom. The recommendations resulting from that process are set forth in the 21st Century Committee Recommendations.

    If approved, these recommendations and the corresponding amendments to the International Constitution would institute far-ranging and much-needed changes. The amendments:

    * Emphasize organizing by integrating non-traditional workers (homecare and childcare workers) in addition to traditional workers.

    * Emphasize enhancing our political and legislative capabilities.

    * Emphasize developing Council and Local Union structures that’ll help us meet collective bargaining, contract administration, communications, public affairs, legal rights and organizing challenges.

    * Address the critical need to raise the resources to accomplish our goals.

    I strongly support the 21st Century Committee’s recommendations. At the upcoming International Convention (Aug. 7-11), we will take on and debate these critical issues. The future of our Union is literally at stake – and literally now. And, as ever, you can play a role in shaping it.

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May 2006
Coalition-building a winning response to Walker’s declaration of war on Milwaukee County
    There’s good news and bad news to report this month.On the good-news front, progressive forces in our state successfully defeated the efforts of ultra-right-wing Republican legislators to pass the most recent incarnation of TABOR.

    Although they marketed the constitutional amendment as the Taxpayers Protection Act (TPA), it was nothing more than TABOR II. And, if passed, it would have destroyed the ability of state and local governments to govern. Some of us believe that the destruction of government was their true goal all along.

    The coalition that joined forces to defeat TPA was made up of many different groups: labor unions; environmental advocates; the religious community; health care providers and advocates; groups which have as their mission the care and support of the aged, mentally ill, developmentally disabled, immigrants and those in poverty; groups representing local municipal, school district and county governments; the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents; and progressive political groups.

    Clear-thinking Republican State Representatives and State Senators stood with Democratic legislators, and with the coalition members, and voted for fiscal responsibility. Together, they shot down this terrible concept, and defeated the proposed constitutional amendment.

    Only a temporary victory. With great clarity, Sen. Sheila Harsdorf from River Falls and Sen. Ron Brown from Eau Claire, both Republicans, said: “Fiscal policy does not belong in Wisconsin’s constitution.” We thank them for their strength of character and their commitment to sound fiscal policy for the citizens of Wisconsin. We also thank their Republican colleagues who voted against TPA, and all of the Democratic legislators who stood unanimous in their opposition to TPA.

    On the bad-news front, I believe that this was only a temporary victory. We have to remain especially vigilant to prevent TABOR, son of TABOR, bride of TABOR or any other form of TABOR from rearing its head again. Those who oppose us and support TABOR are both relentless and shameless in the pursuit of their goals. As one of my colleagues stated, “These people have a way of taking a really bad idea and making it even worse.” Our enemies hate to lose and will spare no effort to bring this back again.

    Here’s more bad news: Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has taken his “Sky is Falling Tour” on the road. Walker has been County Executive since 2002. He spent about two years of his tenure collecting a paycheck from Milwaukee County taxpayers while he campaigned virtually full-time for Governor until God told him to drop out of the race last month.

    When Walker was first elected, he bragged that every day he didn’t blow up the County, he scored positive points. During his first year and one-half in office, he didn’t blow up the County. We supported his efforts to run County government during that honeymoon period. Unfortunately, the real Scott Walker showed up. Since that time he has worked either through action or inaction to do everything in his power to dismantle Milwaukee County government. This is the real Scott Walker.

    The “Sky is Falling Tour” is a slick PowerPoint presentation designed to show that Milwaukee County is going bankrupt. Walker points to all kinds of numbers that he believes support this premise. What’s missing in his presentation is any personal responsibility for the fiscal challenges we face. After four years of governing, he doesn’t assume any fault. Yes, he inherited problems, but his neglect of Milwaukee County has made those problems worse. Someone needs to remind Walker that he has been County Executive for four years – the County’s fiscal situation is his responsibility! He’s done nothing about the health care crisis. He’s done nothing to improve the way Milwaukee County governs on a day-to-day basis. He’s basically done nothing but whine about who did what before he was elected.

    Meanwhile, Walker and his administration have declared war on Milwaukee County. This is a fundamental attack on our members and our Union. It is also a fundamental attack on the citizens of Milwaukee County who rely on the safety net of County Government. I am talking about those citizens who live in poverty, the mentally ill, the developmentally disabled, the aged and children in crisis.

    Part of the solution. The wealthy will always have a place to take their children for recreation or to recreate themselves. The wealthy have health insurance and will always be able to afford quality health care. The wealthy can afford to care for mentally ill or disabled members of their families. The wealthy can afford to provide proper care for their senior relatives.

    Make no mistake about it: In Scott Walker’s vision of Milwaukee County, there’s no room for the poor or at-risk citizens. He wants to create a County that ignores those people and those problems. And he will stop at nothing to line the pockets of the privateers and his supporters. He simply doesn’t care about the County. He stands for nothing other than tax cuts.

    So we must join together with like-minded groups and elected officials – with organizations and individuals who stand for something — and fight as hard as we can to prevent Walker from dismantling Milwaukee County government.

    Thankfully, there are many County Board members who share our values and are currently on the front line defending our members and supporting our efforts. But we must go on the offensive and put together the same type of coalition we joined to defeat the TPA. This is a war we have to win for the sake of our Union, our members and all citizens of Milwaukee County.

    We are a part of the community and we will be part of the solution.

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March 2006
Redirecting the ‘direct attack’ debate
    We know it’s open season on public employees. All you have to do is turn on the crazies on talk radio and at least half of their “tirade of the day” babble will be about public employee pensions and other related issues.

    One “prominent” (also racist) talk show host even went as far as to attack all teachers as being “evil” because he considers their Union (the State Teachers Union) evil because they support elected officials and candidates who support the Union’s issues, and try to un-elect those who do not. Yet, he does the exact same thing when he advocates for like-minded ultra-conservative politicians who echo his warped view of the world.

    At public forums, the folks from the so-called “Citizens for Responsible Government” cry about their allegedly high taxes. Yet these are the same people who enjoy the high quality of public services provided by the dedicated workers who work for the institutions they attack. What has changed over the years is that the attacks have shifted from a debate over the work we do to direct attacks on the workers who perform the work.

    Sending the quality message. For years now, I have talked and written about the need for high-quality public services. As a public service union, we understand better than anyone else that the long-term solution to the animosity toward public workers and public services (fueled by the ignorant) is to educate the populace about the need to grow the Milwaukee (and Wisconsin) economy. We understand that growth will only occur in our communities if we maintain high-quality public services.

    But two tragedies that occurred during the first two weeks of March make our “growth” defense of public service seem trivial.

    While performing routine sewer cleaning work in the City of West Allis, behind properly set up barricades and wearing the mandatory orange vests, two members of Local 80 were struck by a young driver of a car that blew through the barricades at 35 - 40 mph; apparently, she did not even attempt to stop (there were no skid marks). At the time this issue went to press, both workers were in critical condition. One had lost both legs in the accident.

    No doubt, this was an accident. No one is accusing the young woman of doing it on purpose. She, too, is in critical condition. But the accident highlights the dangers faced by public employees every day they go to work.

    So did an accident that took the lives of two of our AFSCME Council 40 Union brothers a week earlier. While at work patching Highway 41, the Winnebago County Highway Department workers were killed by a motorist who was not paying attention.

    Public workers go to work every day to make a family-sustaining wage and benefit package. They strive to provide a safe, secure environment, and a high quality of life. They want to provide their children, and the rest of us, with a better community.

    They’re in harm’s way every day. Nobody leaves for work in the morning thinking they will killed that day due to someone else’s negligence — or that they will be maimed and that their lives, their family members’ lives, will never be the same.

    Yet, the work a great many public workers perform puts them in harm’s way on a daily basis. Think about the highway and street repair workers, who routinely toil in one of our society’s most dangerous environments. Consider the work performed by correctional officers who guard inmates in our prisons and jails, and the constant dangers they face every day. Take a minute to mull (if you even can) the responsibilities facing the workers who care for our mentally ill – or the court work who find themselves in the midst of violent situations. And just think about the dangers confronting water department workers who enter unstable ditches while repairing broken water mains. The thing is, most of us don’t have to think about it because public workers do their jobs so efficiently, so well, that their work is invisible to the rest of us.

    It shouldn’t be. We all recognize the inherent dangers in fire and police work, but we often forget the dangers involved in so many other public service jobs. Unfortunately, it can take horrible tragedies like the West Allis and Winnebago County accidents to help us remember – and to make us realize our vulnerability.

    Which brings me back to my opening remarks, and the shift from arguments about the level of public service work to direct attacks on public workers.

    ‘Now, I’m livid.’ I have been angry about the direct and personal attacks for a long time. Now, I’m livid. How dare these idiots on the far right attack hard-working individuals who dedicate their lives to public service? I have often said that it wasn’t that long ago that public service jobs were not all that desirable. When the private sector was booming, people laughed at those who chose public sector careers. They aren’t laughing now.

    We fought hard for the wages and benefits we receive. So I am personally outraged when profitable private sector companies, which pay their CEOs and other top executives millions of dollars, renege on their obligations to their workers and retirees. Attacks on public sector benefits, pensions and wages are equally unacceptable. And attacks on workers should never be socially acceptable. For far too long, we’ve allowed our attackers to control the debate. It is time for us to start fighting back in earnest. How? By meeting these direct attacks head on.

    It’ll require us to do a better job of developing clear, crisp and consistent messages – to our brothers and sisters, to our lawmakers, to the private sector, to the public at large – about who we are, what we do and why it matters within the communities we serve. To get smarter about how, when and where to mobilize our resources. To recognize – no, embrace – once and for all the fact that we cannot separate politics from our unionism (as they are one and the same), and that we must patrol the legislative halls and campaign trails accordingly. With vigilance and with vigor.

    We owe the communities we serve – and our brothers in West Allis and Winnebago County — at least that much.

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December 2005
Gearing up for an 'increasingly difficult' year
    As we close out 2005, we should reflect back on the past year and analyze the good and the bad, the successes and the failures. In total, 2005 was a productive year for our Union. But we’ve got our work cut out for us once again in 2006.

    Bargaining. Many of our bargaining units were successful in negotiating successor agreements. All were able to preserve essential fringe benefits, most with just a few modifications. Health insurance continues to be the huge obstacle standing in the way of decent wage increases. The pressure to add co-pays and deductibles and to premium-share continues to be immense. On average, wage increases are in the 2 percent to 3 percent range.

    The most notable contract remaining open is our contract with Milwaukee County. We are at an impasse and headed toward arbitration. Unfortunately, some County officials lack the vision to truly address the issues confronting them. Example: Rather than confront the health insurance crisis by taking action to reduce health-care costs, the County merely wants to shift costs to the workers. So for all the crying and moaning from a few Supervisors, in the end, they merely want to punish County workers. We sincerely hope the Supervisors will wake up from their collective coma and start talking about the kind of sensible solutions to the health care crisis that our Union is proposing.

    Legislation. This is a huge area of concern. Extreme right-wing Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature have mounted an all-out assault on public employee collective bargaining. The October issue of our newspaper featured an article on AB 268, which would remove privatization and sub-contracting as mandatory subjects of bargaining. Since that article was published, another bill has been introduced — SB 242 — that proposes removing health insurance as a mandatory subject of bargaining. Meanwhile, another draft bill (no number has been assigned) would impose cost caps on successor contracts – a QEO for all public employees.

    All that stands between us and our collective bargaining rights being stripped away is Gov. Doyle’s veto pen. He has promised to veto any diminishment in collective bargaining rights as an attack on his "core values."

    If nothing else motivates our members to participate in the political process in 2006, the threat these bills pose should.

    Also on tap for the next legislative session is the most recent incarnation of TABOR (the so-called Taxpayers Bill of Rights), which would cripple government at all levels, and lead to more tax freezes. What is not on tap is doing something meaningful about the spiraling costs of health care and energy, or a serious push to promote real economic growth and job development.

    Budgets. It’s been a very difficult time for all municipal budgeters, given the imposed tax freezes and rising health care costs. But together with our activist members, our staff tracked the budget deliberations and, in general, we were successful in dodging the major bullets — neither the City of Milwaukee or Milwaukee County budgets called for significant layoffs. We owe a debt of gratitude to our friends on the Common Council and the County Board for their diligence in working to protect the interests of our members.

    But next year will be increasingly difficult.

    On a personal note: We recently lost a dedicated Union activist. Cecile-Marie Purdy was the president of Local 645, Milwaukee County Professional Employees, and one our Contract Administrators for Milwaukee County. She was also a good friend.

    Cecile lost her courageous battle with cancer shortly after we were given hope that she had turned the corner and would be returning to a position in the County.

    It is hard to say what we will miss most about not having Cecile with us. For me, I will miss her sense of humor, her wit, and her ability to weave a story and find something amusing in all situations. Our Union will miss her commitment and dedication to the members she served so well. She was a bright light in even the darkest times.

    Our thoughts and prayers go out to Cecile’s family, her husband Dave, and her children Melisa, John and Gregg.

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October 2005
AB 268: Why we can’t let this most recent attack on public workers’ rights slip through the cracks
    Most bills drafted and assigned numbers in the State Capitol just slip through the cracks; they become one of hundreds of bills the Legislature takes up every year. Assembly Bill 268 could have been one of those bills. But AB 268 is not just another bill – it is a fundamental attack on public employees and an attempt to undermine our basic right to collective bargaining! So we couldn’t let it slip.

    The bill would make subcontracting and privatization of public services a non-mandatory subject of bargaining in virtually 100 percent of negotiations. And if it’s signed into law? Should a public employer desire to privatize, our role at the negotiation table would be relegated to bargaining wage and benefit cuts in order to try to capture our own work and prevent the privatization.

    In my estimation, this bill is much more a frontal attack on our rights as workers to secure a fair, family supporting wage and benefit package than anything else. It is an attack on our job security, and an effort to advance the wrong-minded premise that privatization actually saves money.

    I testified at the Aug. 31 Assembly Committee on Labor hearing on AB 268, and along with Bob Chybowski, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 40, bore the brunt of the disdain and disrespect from Republican legislators who support this lousy bill. I tried to point out some of the examples of bad privatization, permeated with corruption and waste, that have occurred in Milwaukee County — W-2, Child Welfare, MMSD and the Milwaukee Public Museum, to name a few. Rather than engage in any real dialogue with me or any of the other AFSCME members who testified (see the lead story in the October 2005 issue of AFSCME 48 for some of what they had to say), they made the phony claim that they were supporting AB 268 to protect taxpayers. Anyone who witnessed this circus saw that the bill’s supporters cared little about taxpayers; they were engaging in a mean-spirited, partisan attack on the public sector and public workers.

    On the plus side, these AB 268 supporters were exposed as hypocrites: AFSCME members confronted them with the real facts. Repeatedly, we told them that the real budget crisis is being caused by runaway health insurance expenses. Not one of the Republican legislators on the Committee would respond to our questions about what they were doing to stop the rape of municipalities by health care providers and insurance companies. Perhaps they didn’t respond because they know that we know they aren’t doing anything.

    No return to ‘collective begging.’ Rest assured, if AB 268 passes, and if it survives the expected veto from Gov. Doyle, this is just the beginning. The next step would be to remove our right to bargain health insurance. After that, for all practical purposes, we will have turned the clock back 50 years, back to the days of "collective begging."

    This bill has shown us unequivocally that we can’t separate politics from our unionism. They are one and the same.

    Another plus: The AFSCME members who took their own time to come to Madison and testify, or to sit in the audience in support of their brothers and sisters, did our Union proud. Grassroots lobbying makes a huge difference. We should never assume that our friends in the Legislature will do the right thing unless we communicate our issue positions clearly and consistently. By going to Madison and testifying, we clearly showed our united opposition to this destructive bill. All of our members owe these dedicated activists our gratitude – and a pledge to continue communicating clearly and consistently.

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July 2005
Let’s get it straight: The Museum’s dire financial straits show us once again that privatization isn’t the answer
    Six months ago, if you had mentioned the Milwaukee Public Museum in casual conversation, the likely responses you would have received would have been that it is a really nice place to visit, and that it is a genuine community and regional treasure.

    Sadly, if you mention the Milwaukee Public Museum now, with financial mismanagement and having been brought to the brink of bankruptcy and closure, the response you’d get would be far different. Disappointment. Outrage. Shock.

    The financial ruin of the Milwaukee Public Museum was caused by a few people at the 120-year-old institution’s top. The volunteer Museum Board failed to provide adequate financial oversight and, in so doing, completely abandoned its mission and abused the public’s trust.

    Over the past several weeks, I have gotten to know some of the dedicated Museum staff members who are members of our Union. They are members of Local 526. Many have served through the transition of the Museum from a City-run entity to a County-run entity, and then from a County-run entity to a Public-Private partnership. These workers weathered storms in the past, and did their jobs in the same dedicated and sincere manner expected of professional, technical, white-collar, security and blue-collar employees. Many in the scientific disciplines were directly responsible for developing research and educational programs that contributed greatly to the public’s enjoyment and understanding of the Museum.

    Although the entire community will suffer from the recent events at the Museum, these hardworking individuals – not some faceless and nameless institution – are the true victims.

    An agreement was reached between our Union and the Museum. Our members will grant concessions which will total about $2 million over the next two-plus years, including wages, fringe benefits (health insurance, pensions, etc.) and layoffs. We were able to negotiate certain layoff protections and strings on the use of the money we were conceding, but it was a case of trying to salvage the best of a terrible situation.

    All of this happened because top-level administration ran the place into the ground by squandering Museum money and resources by loading up on highly paid vice presidents, directors and other top level managers; and lavishing them with expensive “perks.” All this while failing to do any fund-raising, which would have offset their lavish expenditures.

    The former chief financial officer, who for about a year also served as acting chief administrative officer, created a ridiculously generous “career ladder” for top administrators, which accounted for multiple undeserved promotions and salary increases. He bailed out in April – before the Museum’s dire financial condition was public knowledge – with a confidential severance package that some described as a “golden parachute.” It is my sincere wish that he, and others responsible, are charged criminally for what they did to the Museum. I also hope they are convicted and serve significant time in jail for what they have done.

    Another failed privatization. Meanwhile, the media so far has failed to focus any serious in-depth discussion on the core reason the events at the Museum took place. What happened was the result of failed privatization. The crisis and its real human costs would not have taken place had the Milwaukee Public Museum remained a Milwaukee County operation.

    So, add the failure of the Museum to the corruption of W-2; the profit-taking and failures of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District; the excessive expenditures attached to the state takeover and contracting out of child welfare; and the continued downsizing of mental health, and the failure of local health care providers to step up and provide the necessary services to the Scoundrels Hall of Fame. How many failed privatization efforts do we need in Milwaukee before we realize that privatization is not the answer?

    These significant failures, elected officials need to be reminded, have cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Elected officials must also be reminded that there is a human cost to privatization. The Museum employees who have been laid off, and those left working who have been forced to take concessions, are paying a terrible cost for the failure of privatization.

    No public board would have been allowed to remain in office after failing, as this board did, to monitor the finances of the institution it was obligated to run. No public board would have allowed the administration to get away with the financial mismanagement and lack of accountability this one allowed at the Museum without bringing the responsible members to task for their incompetence.

    Government takes its hits when it fails to provide the best services for the best cost. When will we hold the private sector to the same standards when they use our public dollars?

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May 2005
It’s not negative space: Navigating the ‘no’ line of negotiation (in historical context)
    I was at the negotiating table recently, and the chief spokesperson opened our bargaining by announcing two "fundamental principles" regarding negotiations. The first principle was that the employer needed to cut costs. The second principle was that there was to be no decrease or diminishment in the level of services. I responded on behalf of the Union that our answer was "no."

    The simple answer of "no" is not that simple. An analysis of "no" needs to start from an historical context. Employers (including this employer) have been downsizing for many years. Public workforces have been cut to the bone. There is no more room in virtually any workforce to downsize without cutting services.

    This ain't semantics. What the general public does not know or understand is that in response to systemic downsizing, public employees have increased their work output so the public would not see a significant reduction in the quantity or quality of services. Some employers have attempted to improve work methods and create efficiencies, but for the most part, if taxpayers have been insulated from dramatic service decreases, it is because of the efforts of hard-working, dedicated public employees.

    As usual, our members will respond positively when the workforce is downsized. We will do our share and more. But enough is enough. It’s time for administrators and managers to tell the truth to elected officials whose mantra is to freeze or cut taxes. It’s simple: If you cut the workforce, you are cutting services.

    Because we are dedicated to the public and understand our obligations to taxpayers, the reduction in services may not equate directly to the loss of jobs (for example, the workforce may be cut by 10 percent, but the level of services will only be reduced by 5 percent). But without question, budget cuts mean service cuts.

    There are, however, some solutions for creative and bold municipalities and school districts to explore. We should not be looking at doing business as usual.

    My first suggestion to employers is to look at your staffing ratios. During the years you’ve downsized your workforces, you’ve generally left the size of management unchanged. This should not come as a huge surprise. When elected officials look at downsizing, they go to their administrators, supervisors and managers for recommendations. What a shock! They seldom recommend that their jobs be eliminated.

    When you are looking for ways to save money, go to your direct service workers as well as the administrators, supervisors and managers. Direct line workers know more about the work than anyone else. Ignoring them means ignoring the most valuable resource available.

    Also, if it can’t pass the "smell" test, don’t do it. It smells when five or 10 years ago, a municipality had a employee-supervisor ratio of 10 or 15 employees to 1 supervisor, and now the ratio is 5 to 1. It smells when our members are asked to make sacrifice after sacrifice and top managers get 5 percent to 10 percent pay hikes.

    My second suggestion is to look seriously at health insurance. I am not talking about simply shifting costs onto employees. I’m talking about actually taking steps to decrease overall health costs. Explore ways to incorporate "wellness" programs and disease management programs into the health care agenda.

    It is axiomatic: keeping people healthier will reduce health care costs. Create incentives to get insureds (retirees and actives) into these programs. Wellness and disease management programs are good for the workforce and good for society.

    Also, study ways to save money on prescription drugs. There is tremendous profit-taking going on in the pharmaceutical industry, including by insurance companies. There are ways for health plans to become more efficient and save money for the insureds.

    Think ‘coordinated & consolidated.’ My third suggestion is for communities to find ways to coordinate and consolidate services. This is a vehicle that is talked about a lot, but seldom acted upon. The reason it is seldom acted upon is turf. Elected officials are bold enough when they are asking us to make sacrifices. Why don’t they show some guts when it comes to giving up some of their power and turf?

    The bottom line is that when any employer comes to us and asks us to pony up while ensuring there are no losses of service when they cut our staffing levels, the answer is “no.” The answer will continue to be “no” unless we see an effort to save money in ways other than off our backs and at our expense. We have already sacrificed enough!

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February 2005
Doyle’s responsible ‘freeze’ is far more desirable than any reckless plan the state Republicans have been pushing
    Guess what? It’s still open season on public employees. For example, not a week goes by without hearing a story about the Milwaukee County Pension "scandal." Hard-working Milwaukee County employees are almost embarrassed to admit that they work for the County. Yet the public has no little knowledge of what really happened when the pension improvements were negotiated in 2000.

    For the most part, people are unaware that it was our Union’s negotiation team that raised the “red flag” and pointed out that there were serious issues involved with the pension settlement. It was our Union that demanded to see an analysis from the County’s actuary to determine whether the pension plan could afford the improvements that were being proposed to us by the County’s negotiating team (Dobbert, Zielinski, et al.). It was not the County Board Supervisors – some of whom are now crying that they were deceived and misled, when in fact they were asleep at the switch – but our Union that raised all of the red flags. And it was the County’s actuary who responded that everything was fine – the same actuary who apparently withheld telling the County Board that Dobbert did not ask the actuary to analyze the cost of the drop back benefit. He must not have thought that was information the County Board needed.

    Representatives of our Union even met with some supervisors, including the then County Board chairperson, to raise concerns about the pension settlement. These same supervisors were in on the strategy to settle with our Union last among all Unions in order to whipsaw us into the same settlement.

    A less direct (but dangerous) threat. So here we are in 2005. The County is now putting around $30 million per year into the pension (still less than it contributed during the early 1980s when the County budget was a fraction of what it is today). The County Executive is still crying about the problems he inherited, and using this rationale as the excuse to slash and burn as much County government as he can. And long-serving supervisors continue to wallow in their guilt over their failure to do their jobs on the due-diligence front back in 2000 and 2001. Some supervisors have even developed a level of hero status because they voted against the salary and pension packages back then – even though at least one voted “no” because she didn’t think the County’s health insurance proposal was generous enough, not because she was concerned about the pension improvements.

    Meanwhile, the attacks on public workers continue. Although we’re used to direct frontal attacks in Milwaukee County, shots are being fired at us from less direct, but no less dangerous, directions.

    In previous columns, I have written about TABOR, the so-called “Taxpayers Bill of Rights..” TABOR is still out there, lingering in the shadows, waiting to rear its ugly head. The lies about TABOR and why it is necessary continue to spread. I encourage all of our members to go back and read earlier issues of our newspaper to refresh themselves about the reality of TABOR and why it would be a disaster for Wisconsin taxpayers.

    In recent weeks, the talk has turned to the property tax freeze. A property tax freeze is coming; that was virtually guaranteed when Gov. Doyle proposed a freeze in his 2005-2007 State Budget. The only question now is what the freeze will look like.

    Framing the freeze issues. Our Union opposes tax freezes in any form. A property tax freeze does not represent, nor will it cause, property tax relief. The freeze takes away local elected officials’ ability to govern. It severely curtails their ability to respond to crises, and encourages risky borrowing schemes that likely will cost taxpayers more in the end. Freezes also reward those communities that have been bigger spenders and penalizes the ones that have governed frugally and responsibly.

    A tax freeze without addressing the overall issues of tax fairness – including corporate tax loopholes and an overhaul of the unfair income tax system – will not result in long-term property tax relief.

    Even though we oppose all property tax freezes, the Doyle freeze is far more desirable than the one the Republicans in the State Legislature have proposed. We have a huge fight before us to make sure the Legislature acts responsibly on this crucial issue.

    And remember: Just because we’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get us.

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