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  Missouri Right-to-Work Bill
Fails<http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/03/15/missouri-right-to-work-bill-fails/>
By:
David Dayen <http://news.firedoglake.com/author/dday/> Tuesday March 15,
2011 12:17 pm

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All of the anti-union actions happening throughout the country are basically
rear-guard actions, fighting to defend turf rather than expand it. But the
Wisconsin battle definitely changed the tenor of these fights. The public
has a newfound appreciation for workers’ rights and collective bargaining,
right-wing governors who pushed these plans are becoming horribly
unpopular<http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2011/03/brutal-numbers-for-kasich-sb-5.html>along
with the legislation they’re carrying – the SB 5 citizen’s veto,
should it come to that, in Ohio will be a major test of this proposition –
and in general, the landscape has changed. Most important is the progressive
solidarity around the issue – I’m seeing groups like Color of
Change<http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/workers?akid=1932.959613.NCgHTR&rd=1&t=3>connect
the right to organize and collectively bargain to civil rights
issues and protection against discrimination, whether in the workplace or
civil society.

If you were to ask me whether Missouri would be able to get a
right-to-work-for-less bill, which would basically bust the private unions,
out of its pretty conservative legislature, I’d have to say that was likely.
Missouri has a Democratic governor, Jay Nixon, so it may have stopped there.
But passage in the legislature seemed likely. It didn’t
happen<http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/03/15/right-to-work-stalls-in-missouri>
.

 Senate Minority Leader Victor Callahan (D) said supporters of “right to
work” for less legislation who claim it will attract more businesses to the
state might as well be arguing “let us race to become more competitive by
emulating the Third World…

“Through unions and good jobs we created a middle class. The middle class
didn’t cause recession, Big Banks did.”

Tweeting from last night’s session, Cathy Sherwin, the Missouri AFL-CIO
communications director, noted that opposition to the bill crossed party
lines, including Sen. Kevin Engler (R) who said his parents’ union
membership benefited both the family and the state.

“Because my parents had good union benefits, my parents are going into a
nursing home with NO state benefits needed at no cost to state.”

Senate leaders said they would not bring the bill back up this week and it
was uncertain if it would be on the agenda after the legislature’s spring
break next week.

5,000 people 
<http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=294297&id=110988779311>filled
the state capital last week to protest the bill, and 500 workers sat
in the State Senate gallery last night bearing witness. They were able to
stare down the majority Republicans.

More from Politics
USA<http://www.politicususa.com/en/missouri-halt-anti-union-bill>
.

Before long, these rearguard actions will have to be matched with tangible
gains for American workers. That needs to be done through un-rigging the
rules<http://www.truth-out.org/the-key-rebuilding-workers-power-unrig-rules68440>that
make it so difficult for labor to organize. But for now, it’s
satisfying that the great union-busting sweep envisioned by the Koch
Brothers and other leading lights of the conservative movement is meeting
fierce resistance.
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Comments<http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/03/15/missouri-right-to-work-bill-fails/#comments>
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Spotlight<http://www.thespotlightproject.org/tsp.php?blogUrl=http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/03/15/missouri-right-to-work-bill-fails/>
Tags: labor <http://news.firedoglake.com/tag/labor/>,
unions<http://news.firedoglake.com/tag/unions/>,
Wisconsin <http://news.firedoglake.com/tag/wisconsin/>, progressive
movement<http://news.firedoglake.com/tag/progressive-movement/>,
Missouri <http://news.firedoglake.com/tag/missouri/>, right to
work<http://news.firedoglake.com/tag/right-to-work/>

   Wisconsin: Republicans Dial It Back, Revoke Punitive Actions Against Fab
14 Senate 
Democrats<http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/03/15/wisconsin-republicans-dial-it-back-revoke-punitive-actions-against-fab-14-senate-democrats/>
By:
David Dayen <http://news.firedoglake.com/author/dday/> Tuesday March 15,
2011 1:51 pm

Plenty of people were quick to denounce Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader
Scott Fitzgerald for announcing that Senate Democrats would not be allowed
to participate in recorded committee
votes<http://budget.wispolitics.com/2011/03/fitzgerald-dem-senators-wont-be-allowed.html>.
But if you read the letter he sent, he was saying more specifically that the
contempt order, which the Republicans passed in the dark days of the impasse
over the anti-union bill, had not yet been revoked. This contempt order
could only be lifted on the Senate floor by a vote, and the Senate isn’t due
back in session in Wisconsin until April 5.

Well, today, perhaps because of this outcry, Republicans did revoke all
associated penalties
<http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/118023204.html>arising from the
contempt resolution, in particular the $100-a-day
fines<http://budget.wispolitics.com/2011/03/ellis-fitzgerald-say-republicans.html>Republicans
imposed on Democrats for leaving the state. Furthermore,
Fitzgerald said that Republicans would try to find a way for Democrats to
get their voting rights back in committee before April 5, when the contempt
order would be revoked.

(Fitzgerald) said he’s received assurances from Dems that they would not use
the manuever going forward.

Ellis, R-Neenah, said the moves were part of a good-faith effort on the part
of Republicans to move past the poisonous atmosphere of the past month. He
acknowledged the recall efforts going on outside the building and the
tension that remains there, but said there needs to be a sense of civility
inside the chamber.

“It’s time to do what they’re doing in Japan,” Ellis said. “They‘re trying
to cool off rods over there. It’s time we cool off a few here.”

In addition, Senate Org (essentially the Rules Committee) revoked the
punitive 
actions<http://budget.wispolitics.com/2011/03/senate-org-ballot-would-end-most.html>taken
against Democratic staffers during the standoff, including “limiting
Dem staffers’ access to state copying machines, requiring the majority
leader to approve Dem staff time sheets, and assigning Republicans to have
supervision over Dem offices.”

So Fitzgerald and the Republicans want to move back to an equilibrium in the
State Senate. But their actions have shattered that for good. There’s still
a hearing challenging the anti-union
bill<http://budget.wispolitics.com/2011/03/hearing-set-for-friday-on-suit.html>and
the process by which it passed scheduled for Friday. And the recall
elections continue to move forward. Within a matter of months, Fitzgerald
may not have the ability to enforce any fines or actions against his
colleagues because he’ll find himself in the minority.
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