Wisconsin Assembly approves bill dropping collective bargaining rights

The controversial bill denying Wisconsin state workers the right to collective bargaining has been approved by the Wisconsin Assembly. However, the bill has a long way to go before becoming law. The Assembly is the lower house of the legislature, and the Senate may not be able to vote on the bill in the near future. The bill still must pass the Wisconsin Senate. Article source – Wisconsin Assembly passes bill curtailing collective bargaining by MoneyBlogNewz.

Passing the bill will not take place with too few Wisconsin State Senate members

Collective bargaining rights are likely to be taken from the state unionized workers with the Wisconsin Assembly SB11 bill that has approved. There isn’t enough Wisconsin U.S. Senate present to vote on the bill though. MSNBC states that this will mean the bill will be stuck not going anywhere. The 19 Republican members of the Senate are present, however that’s one person shy of the 20-person quorum, the minimum number of people required to officially vote on the bill. There are 14 Democrats that left the state in order to avoid voting on the bill for the Wisconsin Senate. The legislation cannot be voted on until their return. That means no laws can pass.

Assembly Democrats cry foul

The controversial bill was passed in a manner that Wisconsin Democrats view as dishonest. Wisconsin Assembly Republicans voted for a roll call vote after killing the debate after there were 60 hours of debate with Democrats filibustering with additional amendments for the bill. The bill passed 51 to 17 before some Democrats knew what was transpiring, and 28 failed to vote in time, in accordance with Bloomberg. Tries to reach out to the absent U.S. Senate Democrats by sending Wisconsin state troopers to their homes have been for naught, as they remain in exile in Urbana, Ill. for the time being.

Governor did not want to cooperate

There was a prank call done recently where Scott Walker, thinking he was talking to campaign donor Koch, said that he will not work with the unions on the state budget troubles in Wisconsin. The bill mandates union workers absorb more costs for their pension and health care plans, which unions have agreed to. However, the affected unions have maintained they need to retain collective bargaining rights, which Walker refuses to compromise on. Police and firefighter unions could be the only ones in Wisconsin that keep the collective bargaining rights.

Information from

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/41774667/ns/politics-more_politics

Bloomberg

bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-25/wisconsin-assembly-passes-bill-curbing-unions-collective-bargaining-power.html