September 22, 2011

After the "disgusting... union busting," the largest state employees unions in Wisconsin fail to meet the recertification deadline.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:
Marty Beil, executive director of the 23,000-member Wisconsin State Employees Union representing largely blue-collar workers, said none of the units in his group will seek recertification....

To win the recertification election, unions must get 51% of the vote of all the members of their bargaining unit, not just the ones who take the time to cast ballots - a much higher bar than state elected officials have to clear to win their offices.

A spokesman for Walker had no comment.

Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend), a vocal critic of unions, hailed the news.

"It means that in the future decisions will be made in the best interest of the public and the best state employees, but the radical employees or the underperforming employees will have much less say," he said.
Here's the old "What's Disgusting/Union Busting" chant as recorded by Meade in the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda, originally posted on February 16th:

56 comments:

Anonymous said...

Quite a scam the unions and Dems had going there, eh?

This is why Hoffa was going ballistic, the gravy train has been derailed.

Oso Negro said...

Oh, I suspect they are not done, simply regrouping.

Scott M said...

The "quite a lot higher than state reps" analogy is wearing thin and was never apt. As far as the news itself goes, it was utterly predictable if you know even a handful of public sector union members.

chickelit said...

This is in accord with FDR's wishes. The members should reflect on that.

The good people of Wisconsin will not let them stave and neither shall they let their leaders usurp power.

Ann Althouse said...

"Oh, I suspect they are not done, simply regrouping."

But if the dynamic Grothman describes occurs, over time there will be fewer and fewer employees who want the protection of the union. That is, the "underperforming employees" are thinned from the ranks. It will be harder to get to 51% for the union when those employees are not in the total.

Roger J. said...

The professor speaks the truth re unions--their day has come and gone, and the good union members of Wisconsin have hastened their decline. Thanks guys

gerry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Schmoe said...

Now this is the kind of change I hoped for.

gerry said...

AFSCME has good and bad, and the bad always rises to the top, is the loudest, and usually the laziest. Thank goodness I no longer belong.

Shouting Thomas said...

You mean Kookie and garbage and Omega are wrong?

The proles aren't pleading to join unions?

The reality in the IQ bizzes I've been involved in my entire life is that the egghead techies have no desire to be in a union.

Egghead techies make good money. If they're fast on their feet, and learn new technologies quickly, they're always on the move, looking for that highest hourly rate.

The only advantage to tying your destiny to a single employer or a union is a consistent, guaranteed paycheck. Living with the peaks and valleys of boom and bust means more personal freedom, less ass kissing and (the downside) big fluctuations in income.

Curious George said...

"Ann Althouse said...
"Oh, I suspect they are not done, simply regrouping."

But if the dynamic Grothman describes occurs, over time there will be fewer and fewer employees who want the protection of the union. That is, the "underperforming employees" are thinned from the ranks. It will be harder to get to 51% for the union when those employees are not in the total."

Meh. That's not going to happen. Public workers in WI are covered by very strong civil service protections. While a lot of the crap they got away with is gone with collective bargaining, what's left is still Club Med versus the private sector.

Bottom line is that the unions suffer by not being able to have mandatory and automatically collected dues. This is just more proof that this "Solidarity Forever" bullshit is just that. The union members don't want to pay dues, now don't have to pay dues, so now won't be paying dues.

SGT Ted said...

I guess thats what democracy looks like.

SGT Ted said...

It does amuse me that the members busted their own union up more effectively than Scott
Walker ever dreamed of.

Toshstu said...

Beware the coming Union Zombie Apocalypse

wv: stole. Not no more.

DADvocate said...

Looks like a lot of employess had been forced to join unions against their will. Freedom wins.

ndspinelli said...

Marty Beil is a mamaluke.

Scott M said...

Beware the coming Union Zombie Apocalypse

In a short story I read recently, one of soldiers taking a break behind the firing line pulls off his kit and has a t-shirt on underneath that reads:

"The hardest part of being part of zombie apocalypse is trying to forget how awesome it is."

Fiction aside, it's hard to be a part of the union apocalypse without forgetting how awesome it is.

Phil 314 said...

Choice is a terrible/beautiful thing.

vet66 said...

Score one major victory for the children.

KARMA!

Rose said...

They 'won't seek it' - because they couldn't get the votes? Or because they aren't even going to try?

Trooper York said...

Its hard to have a recertification of the union when your members are too lazy to vote. Just sayn'

Fr Martin Fox said...

Notice carefully:

Advocates of so-called "collective bargaining" always compare the union, in the role of exclusive bargaining representative, to the role of government. Just as in government, the minority has to go along with the majority, so in a "bargaining unit."

So carry that analogy through:

> government has the power to tax; union officials claim the power to force people to pay union dues.

> government has police power: it can punish you for violating it's laws, it can arrest you, and through you into jail, even execute you if the crime is heinous enough.

What do union officials do?

They fine union members who step out of line; they beat people up who cross picket lines...and sometimes people do get killed.

Don't like the comparisons? Well the union advocates insist on it.

Monkeyboy said...

Beware the coming Union Zombie Apocalypse

yeah but they're union zombies, which means you're safe during manditory break times, and they will mill around outside your house waiting for the rep from the "push down the barricaded door"
union to push down your barricaded door.

"who's braaaiiiins?"

"Our braaaaiiiins!"

richard mcenroe said...

And the air over Madison is filled with the detritus of 100,000 ruined feather beds...

Scott M said...

No, it's "breeeaaaks....BREEEAAAKSSS!"

Normally, you kill a zombie by destroying the brain. That doesn't work with union zombies for the obvious reason.

Lincolntf said...

The vindication of Walker, the WI GOP and the Tea Party is now pretty much complete. Only thing left is for one of the violent Union scumbags to actually do some time for their crime.

Michael said...

Again it is shown that when people have the choice they decide in favor of keeping their money instead of handing it over to a union. Once the dues are no longer deducted from the paycheck the reality of who owns the money becomes clear. The tax code in the U.S. would be considerably different if every week or two taxpayers had to stroke a check to the govt. like to the power company.

Scott M said...

The tax code in the U.S. would be considerably different if every week or two taxpayers had to stroke a check to the govt. like to the power company.

Hell, once a month would do it.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

Lest anyone ever think of softening towards those poor Union folks, consider this anecdotal, but based on first-hand knowledge, tale.

A State Security Guard was petitioning against what he deemed an unfair supervisory practice. He demanded 'advance notice' for surprise inspections. Part of the reasoning: a sleeping security guard, startled awake by the inspector, might accidentaly shoot him.

I swear the above is a true story.

Advance notice for surprise inspections. That's Unions protecting 'workers'.

m stone said...

Beil: We've chosen to use our resources to organize our members and advocate for our members.

Sounds ominous; I'm not convinced the unions are going to roll over.

Anonymous said...

Could somebody send Walker down here to Illinois to help us out? Check out the Tribune/WGN report on Union Labor Leader Dennis Gannon's $158,000 city pension.

Congratulations Wisconsin!

Chip S. said...

To nitpick a bit, does the rule really require the votes of 51% of the membership, or a simple majority?

My guess is that an innumerate reporter-editor pair doesn't understand the difference.

Scott M said...

Advance notice for surprise inspections. That's Unions protecting 'workers'.

We had a couple of classmates die in a car accident back in high school. We took up a collection, got permission from the school administration (including the principle) to plant two commemorative trees with a small plaque installed on a very small concrete slab next to them. All with volunteer help, tools, and materials.

The janitors filed a union grievance because THEY were the only ones supposed to do grounds-keeping.

Brian Brown said...

Again, if unions are so great, why are dues and membership coerced?

BJM said...

AMicheal

The tax code in the U.S. would be considerably different if every week or two taxpayers had to stroke a check to the govt. like to the power company.

Tens of millions of us already do so every three months and we're definately not happy campers.

Curious George said...

"Trooper York said...
Its hard to have a recertification of the union when your members are too lazy to vote. Just sayn'"

Not it at all. It's not the union members at issue here. The union doesn't want to go to the effort of a vote. A) Because it costs them money for what they no would be a failed effort. B) They know that their members would vote "no" eliminating the illusion that this all because of Walker blah blah blah

edutcher said...

Man, you'd think the old guard would have had enough steam to drag it out a little.

Reminds me of Halsey raiding the Philippines and finding out Japan's defensive ring was a hollow shell.

Shouting Thomas said...

You mean Kookie and garbage and Omega are wrong?

The proles aren't pleading to join unions?

The reality in the IQ bizzes I've been involved in my entire life is that the egghead techies have no desire to be in a union.

Egghead techies make good money. If they're fast on their feet, and learn new technologies quickly, they're always on the move, looking for that highest hourly rate.


Good point. I can't imagine even Richard Stallman's thralls unionizing.

Programmers are too weird for that stuff.

Brennan said...

They 'won't seek it' - because they couldn't get the votes? Or because they aren't even going to try?

My Chicago Way dictionary says this is the same question.

It also says, "The only vote you hold is the one whose outcome you already know."

FedkaTheConvict said...

To nitpick a bit, does the rule really require the votes of 51% of the membership, or a simple majority?

My guess is that an innumerate reporter-editor pair doesn't understand the difference.


The law specifies 51 percent of membership votes; that provision makes it an especially high hurdle since it requires considerably more resources to get all union members to vote.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

unions must get 51% of the vote of all the members of their bargaining unit, not just the ones who take the time to cast ballots - a much higher bar than state elected officials have to clear to win their offices.

I like this idea.

If you don't get 51% of the whole population to get up off of their dead butts and vote, then do away with the legislature.... and bring the governance back to the local level where people are more engaged.

Because obviously if no one cares enough to vote, then who needs the organization.

amirite?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

The law specifies 51 percent of membership votes; that provision makes it an especially high hurdle since it requires considerably more resources to get all union members to vote.

Oh, puleeze. How hard can it possibly be?

If it isn't worth the work or worth the time for the members to vote then the organization is not providing a service seen as valuable.

The unions have PLENTY of money and resources. Just look at the millions of dollars that they squandered on political shenanigans.

Excuses are like assholes.....everyone has one.

Shouting Thomas said...

I'm really enjoying garbage's pissing, moaning and general despair this morning.

That Walker, he's really fucked! Right, garbage?

And, all you have to do to railroad Walker into prison is to get a majority.

Yeah, we'll see how that works out, garbage.

Unknown said...

"unions must get 51% of the vote of all the members of their bargaining unit, not just the ones who take the time to cast ballots - a much higher" number of employees to intimidate, even Hoffa cannot supply enough goons and cement boots to do the job.

MadisonMan said...

I wonder if Marty Beil will have a job now? He seems to have been a singular failure in his present job, since he lead the union off the cliff.

FedkaTheConvict said...

Oh, puleeze. How hard can it possibly be?

If it isn't worth the work or worth the time for the members to vote then the organization is not providing a service seen as valuable.

The unions have PLENTY of money and resources. Just look at the millions of dollars that they squandered on political shenanigans.

Excuses are like assholes.....everyone has one.


So who pissed in your corn flakes this morning. Where have you seen me making excuses for any unions?

Hoosier Daddy said...

"... The law specifies 51 percent of membership votes; that provision makes it an especially high hurdle since it requires considerably more resources to get all union members to vote..."

One could reasonably assume no resources should be necessary to get union members to turn out the vote for something that is supposedly in their best interests.

I mean if it meant lavish wages and benefits versus near slave wages and gulag style working conditions, one would think self motivation would be enough.

Unknown said...

Dust Bunny Queen: in the United States of America, we have the right and the freedom to vote and not to vote. Not voting is a right we are free to exercise. Some of us would like to sit on our dead butts on those chilly Nov. days. But abolish the legislature and keep all governance local is a great idea. A greater idea is to thin out the US Congress. One less Congressman, a whole lot less hanger-ons to feed from the public trough.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Dust Bunny Queen: in the United States of America, we have the right and the freedom to vote and not to vote.

Of course we do. I was being facetious.

And now the Union members have that same freedom.

Free at last, free at last. Free to belong to the union by voting to keep it. Free to not belong to the union by not voting.

THIS is what democracy looks like.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

What is disgusting? The corrupt nature of the democrat party union machine that squeezes tax payers for every cent they make to justify and pay for limitless union graft.

Roger J. said...

I thought the law was 50% plus one--oh well, too lazy to google so I will continue to wallow in my own ignorance

wv: ticacti--hmmm sounds titillating; were only titus here

Carol_Herman said...

I always knew unions grew the most hatred for their setup from their own rank and file.

By the way, back in the 1920's and 1920's ... when the concept of unionizing workers first took over ... The union goons couldn't match the goons management provided!

Management hired only the best. The most muscular. The shortest necks. And, they outfitted them with truncheons, knives and guns.

Unions had nothing like this at all! Bunch of men. Not in their fighting prime. (But who liked to fight just the same.) And, they'd be carrying a piece of wood for a weapon. A 2 x 4.

Plenty of injuries.

And, people back then were working for a nickel an hour.

When you look at unions ... what you should see instead are the CORPORATIONS! They own everything! Just like the saud's.

All the stinking politicians are OWNED.

Yeah. The union lost this fight. Because where the PEOPLE are are DECENT PEOPLE.

Some hung on.

But they're not the really, really rich!

Of course, it's nice to cut away a piece of the problem.

But if YOU think you won't be taken by the ankles, and shaken up and down ... so that you release all your money ... then you don't know CORPORATIONS!

Me? I'm waiting to see what happens in Europe. Will the Belgian gnomes spit up all the stolen sovereignty? Or are only the Greeks smart enough to fight back?

mamawolf said...

Was there not recently a change to the way unions had to count the votes. I thought that they used to count 51 percent of the total votes to agree to contracts or recertification. Then it was changed to 51 percent of the total number of people in the union. This royally pissed of the union goons who wanted the Delta employees to unionize and they still had enough employees vote against unionization.

mamawolf said...
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sorepaw said...
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Anonymous said...

http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/June11/0628/0628affidavit.pdf

Affidavit of Cynthia Archer, that was withdrawn, very strange.

sorepaw said...
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