Volume 71, Issue #1 | Spring 2011
It's All About Politics, Not Budget Deficits
Do public employee bargaining rights cause budget deficits like some politicians and right-wing extremists claim? The facts, and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, say no way.
Oklahoma: Workers Hit with Furloughs, Loss of Pension, More Pay Cuts
The state legislature is going after public workers? pensions, jobs and, for municipal workers, their bargaining rights. ?Members of CWA Local 6012 in Broken Arrow and Stillwater will lose their voice on the job if this measure goes through,? CWA District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn said.
State workers, members of Oklahoma State Workers/CWA Local 6086, already have made big economic sacrifices, taking two furlough days a month, the equivalent of a 10 percent pay cut. But the legislature wants more.
Texas: Building a Coalition to Fight for Essential Services
Members of the Texas State Employees Union/CWA Local 6186 have formed a coalition with 36 other unions, civil rights and community groups that?s working for a fair approach to close the state?s budget deficit.
The Texas Forward Coalition is diverse. In addition to TSEU, it includes the Christian Life Commission, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, and United Way.
New Mexico: Governor Cripples State Worker Rights Board
Within a month of taking office, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez fired the director of the state?s Public Employee Relations Board.
?That action makes it next to impossible for the agency to enforce the state?s public workers? bargaining law,? said District 7 Staff Representative Robin Gould, a former state worker, and CWA?s legislative political coordinator for New Mexico. ?It?s like abolishing the entire National Labor Relations Board.?
Tennessee: Coalition Fights Extreme Attacks on Workers
In Tennessee, a broad coalition of unions and community supporters is fighting extreme proposals by the governor and some state legislators to eliminate collective bargaining for teachers, block public workers from making voluntary political donations and end the deduction of union and association dues from government paychecks.
Missouri Legislators Want to Weaken Workers' Rights, Child Labor Laws
In Missouri, the biggest assault against workers is coming from the state Senate, where the leadership is pushing a right to work (for less) bill to destroy private sector unions and a paycheck deception bill to destroy public sector ones.