Massachusetts Dems vote to strip public unions of bargaining rights

[babsbunny]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/29/massachusetts-dems-vote-to-strip-public-unions-of-bargaining-rights/

By Stephen C. Webster
Friday, April 29th, 2011 -- 1:29 pm

Weren't Democrats supposed to be in favor of collective bargaining rights? Well, maybe not.

Welcome to bizarro world.

The Democratic-controlled Statehouse in Massachusetts voted earlier this week to strip public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights, as part of the state's budget measure. It passed by a vote of 157 to 1.

That's precisely the same action taken by Republicans in Wisconsin, where it sparked a massive democratic outcry and weeks of rowdy protests.

The Massachusetts legislation would allow local municipalities to make unilateral changes to agreed-upon benefits, like health care, bypassing the need for union approval. It would, however, leave open a 30-day window where unions may be consulted on changes to benefits.

[ixion]

1. There is only ONE party, and it's called the Bildeburgers.

And that's who everyone takes their marching orders from.

[AnOhioan]

11. Agreed

[spooked911]

19. alternatively, the "WAR party"

probably the same thing

[murielm99]

2. Shut the state down with strikes. n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

3. What's in a name? A puke by any other name still stinks to high heaven.

Party loyalty is wrong.

Principles are what we need.

[RandomThoughts]

4. It is to remove any idea of democrats having anyone on there side.

They had to do it to try and stop the destruction of the Far right.

They had to show there allegiance.

If that story is true, I still question the media reports on such topics.


Regardless of news reports, if the Democrats go against the unions, it shows it is aristocracy against people, not Democrat or Republican.

If the news reports of the actions around those same things are not correct, the same thing is shown.

So it equates to primary challenges to many people to remove many from office. And severe actions to those that try to steal elections.



It was an attempt to stop the steam roll of the right and center right, by progressives, by the center right democrats siding with far right.

[BzaDem]

5. Fortunately, it is unlikely to pass the Senate or be signed by Gov Patrick. Those legislators will

likely face primaries.

[LoveIsNow]

7. It was Deval Patrick's idea! n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Wow....the bros. Kennedy must be spinning in their grave.

[Exilednight]

8. Boston Globe confirms the story.

There are no tax increases in the plan, which was approved on a 157-1 vote.

The most contentious part of the debate focused on an amendment to dramatically strengthen the power of cities and towns to change public employee health plans. Unions opposed it, saying it strips away key collective bargaining rights.

Labor leaders vowed to continue to fight the measure.

On Thursday, hundreds of members of the Massachusetts Teachers Association filled the Statehouse to press their case, even though House lawmakers had approved the measure late Tuesday night.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/04/28/mass_house_approves_304b_state_budget_proposal/

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. So who do I vote for now?

This is just wonderful.:sarcasm:

[jody]

10. Could it be that 2.6M private non-union workers don't care about 242K public employee union mbrs?

[robinlynne]

12. consulted? yeah, right. this is happening in every industry. union or not.

[Starry Messenger]

13. "“American politics consist of two bands of baron robbers..."

“American politics consist of two bands of baron robbers, alternately taking possession of and plundering the treasury of the state.” ~Karl Marx

[bbinacan]

14. Following FDR's counsel? n/t

[spooked911]

15. WTF????? I don't understand this at all!

Can anyone explain what the Mass dems are doing here??????

[Hannah Bell]

16. how will liberal ma. react, do you think?

[spooked911]

18. my worry is people will lie down because this is coming from "Democrats"

I will be surprised if Mass has the same sort of protests we saw in Wisc

[Hannah Bell]

20. i was thinking the same thing.

[WilliamPitt]

21. "Liberal Massachusetts" is a fiction.

Spend some time here and you'll see it clearly. Sure, we have Cambridge and same-sex marriage, but scratch the surface a little bit and you'll find a good old-fashioned Klan rally.

[spooked911]

22. that may be, but it's hard to believe the Dems are more conservative than other states

what is going on here?

Some more info:
Admittedly, it is surprising that Democrats in the deep blue Bay State would risk upsetting their powerful labor allies (and donors). But Massachusetts is still a long way off away from being the next Wisconsin for two reasons:

1. The Massachusetts bill doesn't come anywhere close to the sharp collective bargaining limits that passed in Wisconsin and Ohio.

The legislation allows cities and town to make unilateral changes to worker healthcare plans but gives unions 30 days to comment. If the union objects to the new plan, members get 20% of the savings in the first year. All other bargaining rights remain intact.

2. It is highly unlikely that the Massachusetts House bill will survive in its current form. The Democrat-controlled state Senate won't vote on the measure for another month, which gives unions plenty of time to lobby state legislators and rally opposition to the bill.

The state Senate president won't say if she supports the legislation, but she has said that workers should have a role in healthcare talks. Democratic Governor Deval Patrick has also suggested a more moderate proposal that gives unions a limited time window to bargain.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/wisconsin-style-union-battle-moves-to-massachusetts-2011-4#ixzz1L2Bo6vrt

[Obamanaut]

17. . nt