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Economics · Education · Politics

The Wisconsin Hustle: Unions Rush to Lock In Contracts

Teachers’ unions in Wisconsin are scurrying to win school district of teachers union contracts before Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill gets approved.

Currently, teachers and other state employees pay six percent of their health care premiums and virtually nothing toward their pension costs. Under Walker’s bill, they would pay 12.8 percent of their health care premiums and 5.8% of their salaries toward their pensions.

But if they able to renew their contracts before the bill goes into effect, all Walker bets are off.

Last month, the Milwaukee Area Technical College Board rushed through a new contract. Under it, faculty and other employees would pay 1.5 percent of their salaries for family health insurance coverages. The average salary of faculty is  $95,000, so this would be about $1,425.00. The total premium for family coverage in the state system is about $20,000.00.

Under the current contract, MATC employees would pay nothing for their pensions. Under the new contract, they also would pay noting for their pensions. Under the Walker budget, they would pay $4,940.00.

Within hours of Walker’s announcement of his budget bill, the MATC union board met for emergency contract negotiations. Three business days later, the MATC  board approved the contract.

MATC is not an isolated example. It’s happening across the state.

If there’s a backlash against teachers, this is one of the reasons why.

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— Maureen Martin

Maureen Martin is The Heartland Institute's senior fellow for legal affairs. Formerly a newspaper reporter, she became an attorney and has practiced law for nearly 30 years, generally concentrating in litigation and environmental law. She was an adjunct professor of environmental law at Loyola University Chicago for more than 10 years. Her op-eds have been published in the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, the Washington Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune, among others. Her favorite lawyer joke: “What’s the difference between a carp and a lawyer?” Answer: “One’s a scum-sucking bottom feeder; the other’s just a fish.”

  • Harleyman19822000

    The article was half written, and choppy. Any teacher or school employee, regardless of popularity, seniority, or location, who slacks at their job, should be paid far less than they currently are. If they continue to neglect anything more than 5%-15% of their written duties, they need be reprimanded, and a vote on whether they deserve their job, should be taken, by way of the residents, concentrating on the parents and legal voting age students connected to that particular school/teacher. Any union member, whether regional, district, local, regardless of rank in the union, regardless of the union, who neglects their duties as servants of their area, should be reprimanded, and union bosses, “presidents”, and representatives at all levels should be restricted from positions of authority while being investigated by the areas which they “serve”. If the collective tally shows the public is disappointed in the quality of their work, or by their actions, then the presidents, reps, and “bosses” in that union should be either demoted, or removed from office. School Board members should not be impervious from reprimand, for negatively effecting the communities in their “districts”. No major or moderate decision should be made into policy or law, without majority favor vote from the resident tax payers of the potentially effected area. If a teacher, janitor, or bus driver can be suspended, then a board member, union delegate, should equally be able to be punished.

  • Mrs. Jines, teacher

    I spent 33 years as a teacher and paid up to 10% of my salary per year for a modest retirement. I have no compassion for greedy teachers who think they have a “right” to earn salary and benefits far and away above other public sector workers. Then the teachers’ unions give millions to political figures that in turn for that and future favors protect those salaries and benefits at the expense of the families they serve. It is out of balance. The unions in the private sector have no comparison to the unions of the public sector. But yet, protestors act as if they are the same. Why. I think because these protestors are fed propaganda. Unions are necessary to provide balance even tho current day laws are on the books to protect employees that were not there when unions were formed. But, on the other hand I would feel my constitutional rights were violated if I had to join a union and pay dues in order to obtain a job. We need unions, current employee protection laws, and Right to Work. Then the debate of unions would have credibility. I fail to see why public sector workers should have a union because of the potential unfair advantage of manipulation of their employers through campaign donations.

  • Jdcdjc

    The ones to blame are the ones setting down across the table from the unions, they are either with them or scared of them. Either way the time for unions are gone. When they appeared they were sorely needed but that is not the case any more. If allowed to continue they will be the main downfall of America, them and obama.

  • http://www.facebook.com/annecink Anne Cink

    WAKE UP WISCONSIN! As a taxpayer in that state, I would be demanding to know who in the h*ll is making these collusive deals with the unions. Is there no representation whatsoever for the public at large?

    • Shane

      No! Both sides of the table are controlled by unions, the public has no one at the table!! Pure B.S.!

  • FORWARD

    Wall Street is the only one we should be blaming. Walker has manipulated tax payers into having disdain towards the working class. Tax the rich and this would all be taken care of, the rich have had a 50% tax break since the 80′s. the problem is no one on either side has the balls to do it because it’s not in their political interest. we put our heads down when wall-street threatened to crash the market, and what did we do? we bailed them out with our tax money, while they swam in pools of it. face it, you and I are owned. everyone should be proud of wisconsin right now, whether your on the right, or left. at least people have woken up. something needs to be fixed, it’s not the unions it’s our government. Scott Walker being a primed example of somebody who’s bought in paid for exposing their true side. Wisconsin is just the start. Time to put the country back in the people’s hands., it’s time to end big government, and the corporate interest.