Wisconsin law challenged

A federal district judge has just struck down parts of Act 10's restrictions on public employee union rights.

AZ to WS public sector bargaining

Will Arizona become the next public sector collective bargaining hot spot.

Recalls fall short

Looks like the Republicans will hold control of the Wisconsin Senate, losing only 2 of the three seats the Democrats needed to take over. This proxy war over public sector collective bargaining rights has been bruising and expensive.

Round one to Governor Walker

In a 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin has given the Governor a win in his war on public sector unions. The decision overturns the trial court invalidation of the legislation. Previous post here.

Wisconsin law voided by Court

A state circuit court in Wisconsin has voided the controversial law repealing collective bargaining for public employees -  because the legislature allegedly violated the state's open meetings law. This issue will ultimately make it to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Journal-Sentinel has a good article giving context to the ruling.

Oopsie

It appears some votes were missing temporarily in that Wisconsin Supreme Court race, and now counted those votes favor the incumbent over the labor backed challenger. Several reports indicate the vote count as corrected, is correct.

Wisconsin votes

It is fascinating to watch from a distance the politics of Wisconsin. So much now driven by the struggle between a Republican governor determined to reign in public sector unions and allies of labor. It has certainly made the 2010 political trend favoring Republicans short lived. The real question is the resurgence of support for labor evidenced in Wisconsin likely to play out on a national scale. More after the jump

Polls favor public sector unions

Another poll, this one from Gallup, indicates the public is less anti-labor than some Republican governors would like.

Lets get ready to rumblllllllllle!

A state court judge in Wisconsin has issued a temporary restraining order preventing (at least temporarily) the new law eliminating public sector collective bargaining from taking effect. Wisconsin has become ground zero in a battle between labor and Republicans that will have lasting implications on a national scale.

Walker's approval dives over assault on public employee unions

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker now has a 57% disapproval rate, according to a new Rasmussen poll. 48% strongly disapprove. Yikes! Among families with children in public school 67% disapprove, 54% strongly so.

Making sense of polls

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll finds 62% of Americans strongly oppose stripping public employees of the right to collective bargaining while at the same time even larger percentages think public employees should contribute more to their retirement benefits (68%) and pay more for their healthcare (63%). By a whopping 77% those surveyed believed public sector union members should have the same rights as private sector union members. To me, none of this is surprising or even incongruous. More after the jump

New Labor Media

Would the Wisconsin demonstrations have happened without social media? Probably, but with it the event is more dynamic and dramatic. New Labor Media gets it correct.

mo' protests

Not only Wisconsin, but in many other places, support for Wisconsin collective bargaining rights exists. And for a little humor at Gov. Walker's expense, take a look at the 100 best protest signs.

Survey says?

A new USAToday/Gallup poll finds 61% oppose taking away public sector employees collective bargaining rights.

Wisconsin demonstrates

Chris Bowers at Daily Kos has a detailed piece with video about the remarkable demonstrations ongoing in Wisconsin as Governor Walker continues to target public sector unions. Of course its favorable to labor . . .

Showdown in union country

Massive protests have erupted in Wisconsin in response to Republican efforts to repeal collective bargaining for public employees. Wisconsin was first in the nation to grant collective bargaining rights (1959) to public sector employees. Not something you will see in this part of the world.

Wisconsin adds labor history to curriculum

Updated: A new law bill on the governor's desk in Wisconsin requires the inclusion of the history of organized labor and the collective bargaining process in state social studies standards. If Governor Doyle signed signs the bill, December 10th.  and he is expected to do so, s Students are more likely to be taught history associated with the labor movement. Check out the Wisconsin Labor History web site here.