Wisconsin guards could vote next year on new union
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s prison guards could vote as soon as next year in whether to break away from the Wisconsin State Employees Union.
The vote would culminate a bitter fight over election setbacks, discontent with labor leaders, and anger about working conditions 17 months after the state all but eliminated public sector union rights, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Sunday.
Brian Cunningham, a guard at the Waupun Correctional Institution, said he’s filed more than 1,900 signatures demanding a new union for about 5,800 prison workers, game wardens and other state employees classified as security and public safety workers.
“We tried to change our union from the inside,” Cunningham said. “They didn’t realize there was such a hunger to do what we’re doing.”
An election could be held early next year if the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission verifies that signatures of 30 percent of bargaining unit members have been filed and after union complaints about the process are settled, said Peter Davis, the commission’s general counsel.
WSEU is one of a half-dozen major public employee unions still reeling from the 2011 state law championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker that prohibited almost all collective bargaining for public employees and banned automatic dues collections. WSEU is one of three Wisconsin councils of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union’s dues-paying membership of 22,000 has plummeted to less than 10,000 since the law passed, forcing cuts in organizing staff.
WSEU director Marty Beil said the guards are in for a rude awakening if they succeed in forming an independent union with lower dues and a smaller staff, because they would lack sufficient resources to serve members. He acknowledged that the leaders of the break-away effort are veteran union members, but he said they lack experience in crucial arenas such as the Legislature and the courts.
Dec 3, 2012 at 10:44 a.m.
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Hey Marty, how did calling a legislator a whore work out for you? How did your girl Kathleen work out for you? These correctional officers are obviously not happy with the direction of their union, and thus, are wanting to break away and form an independent union. Why is forming a union such a bad thing? Oh, that's right, forming a union is bad if it doesn't include you or coincide with your terms, right Marty? Sorry Marty, one of the reason individuals are tired of your knuckle dragging was revealed in your last sentence: Experience in crucial arenas such as the Legislature and the courts. AKA - union dues transformed into election contributions.
Time to retire Marty, and move to low tax state.
Dec 3, 2012 at 9:22 a.m.
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Concerned: Now that's not a bad idea...outsourcing. Maybe we should send our prisons (and prisoners) to China. After all, seems like everything else is there. :-)
Dec 3, 2012 at 8:50 a.m.
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Lar, the article is talking about a public union. Please don't confuse them with private unions. How have the Wisconsin unions pushed jobs overseas? Have our prisons and jails been outsourced to other countries?
Dec 3, 2012 at 8:21 a.m.
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Similar stories now for years.
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National and State union reps so far out of touch with the membership that the folks paying dues look for representation that will listen to them...
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Stiff necked National union leaders have done more damage locally, and pushed more jobs overseas than greedy corporate execs.. And that is saying a mouthfull.
Dec 3, 2012 at 8:14 a.m.
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wtp i beg to differ.
http://www.channel3000.com/money/Corpora...
Dec 3, 2012 at 7:22 a.m.
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WTP, when talking about corrections, prison, and law enforcement, the union dues also pay for attorneys. Anyone in any of those fields often are targeted for lawsuits and it would be extremely costly to pay for an attorney individually. If nothing else, unions in this case are an insurance policy in case of litigation.
Dec 3, 2012 at 7:09 a.m.
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just drop the union idea and save the union dues each month towards their wages and they will come out further ahead in the end. yes unions was a good thing back in the 50's when working conditions was horable, but today one can not find those kind of conditions but are still paying out the big bucks for what. most non union places pay the same or better then union shops.
Dec 3, 2012 at 6:16 a.m.
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They still will not be any better off as far walker mindset is
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