March - April - United Mine Workers of America

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“thIs Is aelites who are funding these politiciansaren’t interested in whetherthere’s a strong middle class or not.All they care about is whether workershave any ability to challenge theelites’ control over our economy. Aslong as we’re ‘kept in our place,’they’re happy.”picking our pocketsThe UMWA represents several thousandpublic employees in states andmunicipalities all over the UnitedStates. They see the whole issue ofreducing “over-generous” benefitsfor what it is: Nothing more than away for politicians to take money outof the pockets of those who serve usto pay for tax cuts that benefit thewealthiest Americans.“They say they’re trying to cutcosts,” said George Wilson, a l.U.2004 correctional officer at the JeffersonCountyprison inBrookville, Pa.“I used to workin another field,George Wilson,L.U. 2004DAVID KAMERASers use it as an interest-free loan.That’s where they always go whenthey want to stiff us.”According to Tax.com’s PulitzerPrize-winning analyst DavidCay Johnston, “Out of every dollarthat funds Wisconsin’s pensionand health insurance plans for stateworkers, [every cent] comes fromthe state workers. how can that be?Because the ‘contributions’ consistof money that employees chose totake as deferred wages—as pensionswhen they retire—rather than takeimmediately in cash.“It’s about bustIngunIons, perIoD.”“The same is true with thehealth care plan,” Johnston’s analysiscontinues. “Thus, state workers arenot being asked to simply ‘contributemore’ to Wisconsin’ s retirementsystem. They are being asked toaccept a cut in their salaries so thatthe state of Wisconsin can use themoney to fill the hole left by tax cutsand reduced audits of corporationsin Wisconsin.“The fact is that all of the moneygoing into these plans belongs tothe workers because it is part of thecompensation of the state workers,”he said. “The fact is that the stateworkers negotiate their total compensation,which they then divvy upbetween cash wages, paid vacations,health insurance and, yes, pensions.”and they wentafter the pensionsthere too.Employconsin,”said l.U. 6126 PresidentJoe Martinez, who represents publicworkers in las Animas County, Colo.“I think that all these states havesomehow overstepped by taking itout on their workers. These governorsand legislators aren’t giving upanything. If it’s going to be fair, makeit fair across the board.“Some unions are afraid to doanything, because they’re gettingslammed,” Martinez said. “It’s goingto be a heck of a battle for them to gettheir negotiating rights back. here athome, our contract expires at the endof the year, and who knows what’sgoing to happen then? Will they tryto take it out on us? We’ll see, butthey’ll be in for a fight if they do.”“This situation in Wisconsinsimply can’t stand as a precedent,”said Rhonda Smith, a l.U. 1995member at Southeastern IllinoisCollege in harrisburg,Ill. “I think there’s definitelya need for unions.I would hate to thinkwhat my job would belike without a union. It’sscary that someone couldYolanda Betz,come in and pull thisL.U. 1995out from under us. It’sun-American. We could all end upcleaning floors.”“It’s about bustingunions, period,”insisted Smith’s colleague,Yolanda Betz.“They would loveto get rid of us—it’sDAVID KAMERASthey’re everywhere“My members are hoping that itdoesn’t get any worse here, thatit doesn’t go like it did in Wis-6 March/April 2011 • United Mine Workers Journal
concerteD effort by the elIte 1 percent to take us back to before the new Deal.”April Johnston,L.U. 16that simple. Iremember whatReagan did withthe air trafficcontrollers. Thatwas the beginning.I feel that’spretty muchwhat they’re tryingto do to us everywhere.“Illinois is in financial troublenow,” Betz noted. “We’re all concernedabout whether they’ll startmessing with the retirement benefits.If the states are allowed to declareA nationwide battleThe war against public employees gained publicity inWisconsin, but in no way is limited by state or region,as monitoring by the AFL-CIO indicates.• Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is pushing a new law underthe guise of fiscal responsibility that will allow him to appointemergency fiscal managers with powers so expansive theycould fire local elected officials, break contracts, seize and sellassets, eliminate services and even eliminate whole cities orschool districts without any public input.• In Maine, Governor Paul LePage exempted himself froma budget bill that requires teachers and other state employeesto increase their pension contributions from 7.65 percent oftheir salary to 9.65 percent. He then ordered the removal ofa mural depicting the struggles of workers in Maine from thestate’s Department of Labor offices.• Laws curtailing the rights and compensation of public serviceemployees or calling for privatization of public services havebeen introduced in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas,Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio,Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.DAVID KAMERASbankruptcy, we’d lose half of ourretirement. I’m very concerned that agovernor can come in and take awayour bargaining rights. I think everyunion has to stand together andmake a stand in this country.”April Johnston, a l.U. 16corrections officer in the ClarionCounty, Pa., prison, agrees. “Youcan’t keep taking money from themiddle class while tax cuts that aresupposed to create jobs don’t work.I think these governors do this toget more money from big businessfor the next election run, becauseCasey Mullooly,L.U. 522that’s where themoney’s goingto come from.It’s ‘I’ll scratchyour back if youscratch mine.’”“This is aconcerted effortby the elite 1 percentto take us back to before the NewDeal,” said Casey Mullooly, a l.U. 522member working at the WestmorelandCounty prison in Pennsylvania.“They’re trying to take away the rightof anyone to bargain and reduce us • The Florida House passed a bill that would slash unemploymentbenefits from 26 weeks to a sliding scale of 12 to 20 weeks,and force unemployed workers to accept a minimum wage jobafter receiving 19 weeks of benefits.• In Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Corbett’s budget would cut over1,500 state jobs and slash funding for public universities in half.• Public school teachers and employees face assaults in theform of thinly veiled attacks on public schools and teachers inAlabama, Florida, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania,among others.• So-called right-to-work bills have been introduced in over adozen states, including Maine, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania,Alaska, Tennessee and Indiana.• Paycheck deception bills, which would silence workers’ voicesin the political process, have been or soon will be introduced innearly two dozen states.• Prevailing wage laws that protect workers and communitiesfrom unscrupulous contractors who lowball bids on taxpayerfundedconstruction projects have been targeted for repeal byRepublican governors and legislatures in 19 states.DAVID KAMERASWorkers rally at the Indiana capitol againstattacks on their rights by Gov. MitchDaniels (R) and the Republican majority inthe state legislature.United Mine Workers Journal • March/April 2011 7
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March - April - United Mine Workers of America

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