Our thoughts are with Wisconsin who is fighting a similar — but different — battle right now. While their firefighters (and police officers) are exempt from the changes, I applaud their solidarity to stand with their other union brothers and sisters in their time of need.
I love how they explained why they’re standing with the other unions.
“We appreciate the fact that Governor Walker recognizes the unique work that firefighters do. However the PFFW is unable to stand by while legislation moves forward that undermines the rights of our brothers and sisters in other public employee unions,” Mahlon Mitchell, State President of the PFFW said in a statement today.
“We work with these public employees every day and cannot support a two-tier collective bargaining system that treats them so different than we are treated.
“We are all dedicated public servants. We each have unique duties and responsibilities and all are important to making our communities better places to live, work and raise our families.
“We therefore call on state legislators to reject the portions of the Budget Repair Bill that would permanently undermine the state’s collective bargaining law,” Mitchell concluded.
We stand with you, Wisconsin.
That second video made me cry last night, I admit it. As someone else said on YouTube, “Solidarity is? better when it comes with bagpipes. Go Wisconsin!”
It looks grim, but we will keep Wisconsin in our thoughts and prayers while the vote remains delayed. Our family hopes that our Senators here in Ohio listen to the masses more than they have in Wisconsin. No on SB 5!
5 Responses to “Wisconsin Firefighters March on the Capitol”
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Public employees in other unions are very happy to have such visible support from the IAFF members in Wisconsin. My son and I were in the Capitol today when the firefighters into the rotunda, and many people reached out to touch their hands and thank them for their support.
Being a teacher, this is a very uneasy time for any of my friends. I left MPS so my kids would be able to have a better education. I am not going through this first hand, but am frightened for y friends and co-workers from years gone by. It has been a messy few days here.
I am hopeful that the gov. does not go after FFs and police officers as well. I hope everyone understands this is not all about insurance and wages. If there is no union, who will look out for working conditions? 12 years in the inner-city of Milwaukee – that is a real issue for the teachers. But also for so many other public servants.
Trina´s last [type] ..My turn
What is wrong with asking Wisconsin teachers to pay 12.6% of their health care premiums, when the private sector pays on average 20%? What is wrong with asking teachers to pay 5.8% into their pensions, when the private sector pays on average 7%?
Last month my husband’s employer informed him that he would be paying an extra $100 a month towards our health care. We had to suck it up and deal with it.
Please know my question is sincere. I don’t believe that the Governor is asking too much of these people.
Twitter: firemom
says:
When you factor in that a teacher starts out at $25,000 in Wisconsin, which is below the poverty line, it begins to make more sense. The average is around 46,000, and that’s a skewed number as they count administrators into the averages. Teachers are already struggling to make ends meet in addition to often buying supplies for their own classrooms as education cuts have left them with no other choice. I’m sure that many will “suck it up and deal with it” when and if Wisconsin passes the bill, but at what cost? Here’s a great quote from a thread I was reading:
Great points are made in that quote. I believe the Governor of Wisconsin is handling this almost as poorly as Kasich is in Ohio.
Again, the teachers are not out there because they are being asked to pay part of their health insurance. We have been waiting for this for years. This issue comes when you threaten to end the unions. Being a teacher still requires someone to make sure that there are safe working conditions – especially for MPS in the inner-city schools. When I was 5 months pregnant with our first and had a student go absolutely nuts over colored pencils and launch an entire table at me – the union stepped in and had him removed from my classroom when the board would not. Last year my smallest class was 40 kids – 48 was my largest. I am relatively certain that we violated fire codes. The union took that cause up as well. THESE issues are what is being protested. – not health insurance or pension.
I am glad to be in the private school world, but saddened at the same time. I feel like I am not there for my friends and coworkers. Please don’t judge teachers. Realize on average – we come in an hour early and stay an hour late. We take home anywhere from 1-3 hours of work each night. And especially in the larger districts – we buy all our own supplies – from copy paper and printers to colored pencils and rulers.
Trina´s last [type] ..My turn