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Support for Senate Bill 512 Prohibits Forced Overtime for Nursing and Clinical Staff (February 27, 2008)
TO: Senate Labor, Elections and Urban Affairs Committee
We are not able to testify at the hearing today, but the issue of forced overtime in the health care industry is one that has broad impact. Working very long hours is difficult enough for an employee who is responsible for producing a quality gear, casting a fine mold in a foundry, balancing the receipts at a bank or repairing electric lines. But forcing nursing staff to frequently work long hours of overtime is not only detrimental to them—it is dangerous for patients. It is in the health care field that mistakes in judgment can harm other people in a direct, profound and irreversible way.
The nursing staff must carefully follow and fulfill a physician’s instructions, detect possible medical complications, administer medications, and provide for the overall care and comfort of a patient. Being forced to work extra hours beyond a scheduled shift in an already demanding job causes fatigue which increases the risk of medical errors. It definitely impairs the ability of a nurse to notice changes in a patient’s condition, some of which could be life-threatening.
The government has set limits on the work hours of truckers, airline pilots, flight attendants and railroad workers because it acknowledges that the safe performance of these jobs requires alertness and many lives are at risk in the event of faulty judgment. The same holds true for nursing and clinical staff in health care. There is good reason why the labor movement fought for the eight hour day as a humane working standard. SB 512 would curb the abusive practice of forced overtime in the health care industry, but allow a reasonable exception for employers in the event of an unforeseen emergency. The current situation is not fair to nurses and clinical staff, nor to those who rely on their care. We urge your support for SB 512.
PN/JR/mj:opeiu#9,afl-cio,clc |
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Support for Senate Bill 163 - American Jobs Act (February 25, 2008)
TO: Members of the Senate
This legislation requires contracted services purchased by state government to be performed in the United States, unless they cannot be obtained in this country. Public sector unions and their members know that the work performed by public employees will often prove to be competitive with the private sector—if cost and quality comparisons are done fairly. The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO opposes the outsourcing or privatization of state services, but this option is allowed under current law.
Senate Bill 163 will help ensure
that, in the event state government does outsource services, the
state will direct its purchasing decisions and public dollars to
support the jobs of American workers. This will help reduce the
transfer of work offshore to countries where firms can exploit
the cheapest labor possible. We urge your support. |
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Support for Senate Bill 108 - Teaching Labor History in Schools (February 15, 2008)
TO: Members of the Senate
FROM: Phil Neuenfeldt, Secretary-Treasurer Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Ken Germanson, President Wisconsin Labor History Society
During the committee hearing held on this legislation, some questions were raised by Senators that we wanted to address more thoroughly:
What makes labor history unique in that it deserves to be mandated as a subject to be taught in Wisconsin’s schools?
What about other requests to legislators for inclusion in the state’s “Educational Goals?”
Will this not bring added costs to a school district?
Why teach about unions when there have been some instances of corruption and violence?
Aren’t unions irrelevant today?
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Support for Senate Bill 171: Impartial Justice Bill (February 15, 2008)
TO: Members of the Senate
This legislation provides full public financing to qualified candidates for the State Supreme Court and will help restore and maintain Wisconsin’s long tradition of an independent judiciary. It is in response to the millions of dollars that are now being spent on Supreme Court races which have become the most expensive in our state’s history, creating the impression that justice is for sale to those with the deepest, richest pockets.
Senate Bill 171 will provide
independent public funds from the Democracy Trust Fund which
will help ensure that candidates for our highest court do
not need to rely on wealthy private interests to fund their
campaigns. It will help restore public confidence and trust
that the decisions made by elected justices are based on
their truly impartial interpretation of the law—not
influenced by campaign contributions from those who have a
vested interest in the outcome of cases before our highest
court. We urge your support. |
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Support for Senate Bill 353 - Collective Bargaining Rights for UW System Faculty & Academic Staff (February 15, 2008)
TO: Members of the Senate One of the top priorities of the labor movement is to support the freedom of employees to organize. Freedom of association is a bellwether by which the democratic achievement of nations is measured. Protection of the right to organize and bargain collectively is a bedrock requirement of international labor standards. Certainly the thousands of faculty and academic staff who are employed by the University of Wisconsin System deserve the basic right to decide whether or not they want to be represented by a union of their own choice.
We hope this legislation to extend the
possibility of self-organization to the dedicated
faculty and academic staff within the UW System will
receive substantial bipartisan support. They deserve to
join their colleagues in 29 other states, including
every state that borders Wisconsin, in being granted
this essential freedom. |
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Support for Assembly Bill 695 Modification to John Doe Proceeding (January 31, 2008)
To: Assembly Judiciary and Ethics Committee The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Executive Board voted unanimously to support AB 695 which would help protect public employees—specifically corrections officers, probation and parole officers, as well as those who work in mental health institutions—from being harassed by a misuse of the John Doe process by offenders. This is viewed as a worker rights issue that is beyond the ability of union members to address within the collective bargaining process. AB 695 addresses the growing abuse of the state’s John Doe proceeding which allows anyone to bypass an investigation by the local district attorney and file a complaint directly with a judge alleging that a crime has been committed. The scope of the investigation is at the discretion of the judge and he/she can decide to charge an individual with a crime. Some inmates are harassing correctional officers by requesting judges to initiate proceedings against the officers based on unsubstantiated complaints. An officer with an excellent work history at the Waupun Correctional Institution has been charged with felony abuse of an inmate through this misuse of the John Doe proceeding, despite the fact that both the Department of Corrections and the Dodge County District Attorney thoroughly investigated the inmate’s claims and found them baseless. As knowledge of this manipulation of the John Doe proceeding spreads within the correctional system, inmates can intimidate correctional officers by simply threatening to use this process. AB 695 would clarify
that individuals within our criminal justice system would be
limited to filing a complaint with a district attorney when
it relates to actions of certain public employees under
certain circumstances. This legislation will balance access
to our legal system for offenders with protections that are
needed for dedicated public sector employees and the
security of our correctional institutions. We urge your
support. |
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Support for Senate Bill 165 - Equal Pay Enforcement Act (January 30, 2008)
To: Members of the Senate
This legislation reminds us that the fight for equality in the workplace for women and people of color is far from over. Senate Bill 165 will strengthen current law by allowing for compensatory and punitive damages in cases of workplace discrimination. Currently, the only remedy for victims of such discrimination is reinstatement, back pay and legal fees, and this is insufficient to address the harm that has been done to the individual or significantly discourage employers from paying a lower wage based on gender or race.
Wage inequity is harmful to
workers who will never reach their full earning potential,
and the accumulating financial loss undermines the economic
security of the family unit as well. Even a relatively
minor pay disparity will expand exponentially over an
employee’s working life if raises are set as a percentage of
prior pay. SB 165 will provide a greater incentive for
employers to follow existing law which requires that
employees who do the same job are to receive the same pay.
We urge your support for this legislation. |
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BUILDING TRADES LEGISLATIVE ALERT ! (January 17, 2008)
TO: Wisconsin Building Trades Legislative Committee Building Trades Standing Committee Building and Construction Trades Councils
RE: New Hearing Date for Assembly Bill 466 / Senate Bill 228 Construction Industry Contractor Registration The Assembly Housing Committee has rescheduled the hearing on the above legislation for Thursday, January 24, at 10:00 am, in Room 400 NE of the State Capitol. This legislation will help curb the misuse of “independent contractors” in the construction industry. The accurate classification of workers as employees rather than independent contractors in construction is needed to ensure basic employment rights, benefits and protections for workers. It will also help law-abiding contractors. Contractors that do play by the rules governing classifications are forced to compete against firms that manipulate the classifications to lower their labor costs and secure a 15 to 40 percent competitive advantage when bidding on projects. This legislation requires contractors and subcontractors to register with the Department of Commerce. It prohibits these employers from coercing a person to falsely state that he or she is an independent contractor. Even though misclassifying workers as independent contractors is already illegal, enforcement is difficult and AB 466/SB 228 will create a better mechanism for enforcement. An internet site will list the registered, legitimate contractors, so the public will benefit from the registration process as well. (For more detailed information, see the attached fact sheet prepared by the Wisconsin State Council of Carpenters.)
Senate Bill 228 did pass the State Senate on a 28 to 4 vote with substantial bipartisan support. There is a real chance for passage in the Assembly if legislators hear from union members in the building and construction trades.
Union members can show support for AB 466 / SB 228 in the following ways:
[Note: If any union member needs to determine their Assembly Representative, the Hotline staff will provide that information based on a home address—or anyone can check on-line at: http://waml.legis.state.wi.us. by entering their home address.]
Members of the Assembly Housing Committee: Rep. Steve Wieckert (R-Chair); Roger Roth (R), John Townsend (R), Mark Honadel (R), Gary Hebl (D), Leon Young (D) and Annette Williams (D).
Co-sponsors of AB 466 and SB 228 are: Reps. Kaufert (R), Mason (D), Steinbrink (D), Kreuser (D), Boyle (D), Hahn (R), Montgomery (R), Jeskewitz (R), Sheridan (D), Jorgensen (D), Bies (R), Albers (R), A. Ott (R), Petrowski (R), Townsend (R) and Musser (R). Senators Wirch (D), Hansen (D), Lehman (D), Decker (D), Cowles (R), Schultz (R), Harsdorf (R), Sullivan (D), Olsen (R), Lassa (D) and Erpenbach (D).
Thanks for whatever you can do to support this legislation that will help protect wages, benefits and working conditions in the construction industry. PN/JR/mj:opeiu#9,afl-cio
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Contractor Registration SB 228/AB466
DESCRIPTION: This legislation is a response to the growing problem in the construction industry of employers misclassifying workers as independent contractors. Rather than pay their workers as employees, contractors are handing them 1099 Tax Forms and paying them as independent contractors. Contractors who misclassify their employees have a competitive advantage because they do not withhold federal and state taxes or pay unemployment or workers compensation insurance. Not only are these costs illegally shifted to the individual worker, the “independent contractor” loses the protection of various employment laws (minimum wage and overtime requirements, workers compensation, etc.) We are seeing more and more instances of this illegal practice being used by framing, drywall, roofing, siding, and flooring covering contractors.
We believe the best way to deter contractors from misclassifying workers as independent contractors is to require all contractors in the state of Wisconsin to register with the Department of Commerce (DOC). This bill also will allow consumers to search the DOC website to determine whether they are hiring a legitimate contractor.
TALKING POINTS:
SB 228/AB466 will do the following: · Requires the Department of Commerce (DOC) to register any person who desires to act as a contractor or subcontractor and who meets certain registration requirements established by DOC. · Requires DOC to promulgate rules establishing standards for the registration of contractors and subcontractors, application procedures for persons who apply for such registration, and conditions under which DOC may suspend or revoke such a registration. · Creates a contractor advisory committee to make recommendations to DOC regarding the promulgation of these rules. · Provides that a person may not act as a contractor or subcontractor or perform construction services unless the person is registered as a contractor or subcontractor by DOC. · Prohibits a contractor or subcontractor from entering into contracts with a subcontractor who is not registered with DOC. · Prohibits a contractor or subcontractor from claiming a lien for construction services performed or materials procured if the contractor or subcontractor is not registered with DOC. · Requires DOC to establish an internet site that consumers may use to determine whether a contractor or subcontractor is registered. · Requires registered contractors to display their registration number on all construction bids and advertising. · Authorizes DOC to directly assess a forfeiture by issuing an order against any person who violates the bill’s requirements. · Prohibits any contractor or subcontractor from coercing or inducing a person to falsely declare he or she is an independent contractor. · Exempts anyone performing construction work on his or her own property.
Discussion Points:
· Misclassification is costing Wisconsin millions in uncollected taxes, unemployment insurance and workers compensation premiums. A 2004 Harvard study of the construction industry in Massachusetts estimated that 14 to 24% of employers misclassify their workers at a cost of $21 million to the state. A 2005 state audit* of all Illinois employers revealed a 19.5% rate of misclassification—or 63,666 employers, of which over 7,000 were construction employers. It is estimated that the unemployment insurance system in Illinois lost $53.7 million in 2005. Misclassified independent contractors, according to published data, are also known to underreport their personal income by as much as 30% resulting in lost income tax revenue. In just 2005, that came to $149 million of income tax not collected in Illinois. (*Data provided by the Illinois Department of Employment Security for a project funded by the National Alliance for Fair Contracting—a labor/management group promoting compliance with all applicable laws in public construction.) · While misclassifying workers as independent contractors is already illegal, enforcement is difficult. Requiring registration of all contractors, making it illegal to engage a non-registered contractor, and creating a database of contractors, will create a better mechanism for enforcement.
· Registration is a simple way for the state and consumers to accurately identify real contractors and subcontractors. · Registration protects contractors who are doing the right thing. Misclassification creates an unlevel playing field where contractors that appropriately classify workers have higher costs and lose work to unscrupulous contractors who misclassify their employees. Studies show that contractors who misclassify have a 15-40% competitive advantage in bidding work. Registration levels the playing field. · Many of the workers being exploited by misclassification are illegal immigrants who have no recourse but to accept their situation for fear of calling attention to their immigration status. · Contractors who pull permits for construction of one and two family dwellings are already required to register with the DOC and demonstrate financial responsibility. Because this mechanism is already in place, establishing the registration requirement will not impose an undue administrative or fiscal burden. The DOC has indicated expanding current requirements to all contractors is feasible. A website listing one and two family dwelling contractors registered with DOC already exists. · This legislation applies only to construction contractors. The bill is not a licensure proposal. In fact, we have more stringent standards for individuals making a living as manicurists and barbers. · Roadbuilding, electrical, plumbing, HVAC and sprinkler contractors will not be required to register under the bill, unless they perform the types of construction covered under the bill. (These talking points were p (These talking points were prepared by Mark Reihl of the Wisconsin State Council of Carpenters.
Contact
information: 608-256-1206 (office) or 608-335-6590 (cell) or mreihl@sbcglobal.net) |
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Support for Senate Bill 130 State Minimum Wage Increase (January 14, 2008) To: Members of the Senate Work is supposed to be the bridge out of poverty. That is not true for thousands of Wisconsin workers today who struggle to survive on the current minimum wage of $6.50, and those paid slightly above that rate. The message sent by such low wages is that work is simply not valued. Senate Bill 130 would raise the state minimum wage for adults to $7.25 an hour upon passage, with increases for other categories of employees as well. The bill also calls for the state Department of Workforce Development to make annual adjustments based on the CPI so that the purchasing power of lower-wage employees will not be eroded by inflation. This provides for rational, gradual, annual adjustments so that wage increases for the lowest paid employees are not at the mercy of partisan politics and neglected for many years. Wisconsin would be joining ten states that already index their minimum wage to inflation: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, so this is an accepted approach in establishing wage standards. An analysis by the Center on
Wisconsin Strategy and the Economic Policy Institute indicates
that some 255,000 Wisconsin workers stand to gain from SB
130—75,000 who would directly benefit and another 180,000 who
earn slightly above the minimum and would gain from the positive
ripple effect of the increase. We urge your support. |
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Support for Senate Bill 108 - Teaching Labor History in Public Schools (December 6, 2007)
To: Senate Education Committee
Senate Bill 108 requires that school districts include the history of organized labor and the collective bargaining process in their instructional program. It does not require additional teachers, or special classes or new texts. The implementation of SB 108 is left to school districts and teachers who will know best how to cover the topic, and instructional materials based on Wisconsin’s Model Academic Standards are available for teachers to use to fulfill this requirement.
Union members and progressive allies fought for the eight-hour day, child labor laws, safe workplace standards, pensions, health insurance coverage, overtime rights, vacations, minimum wage laws, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, civil rights laws, family and medical leave rights and many more reforms too numerous to mention. Labor unions led the successful drive for universal free public education for every child. The labor movement has always viewed public education as fundamental to the productive participation of everyone in our society. Yet, the vital history of that same labor movement is largely ignored in history textbooks and the public school curriculum. This denies our youth a well-rounded education, handicaps their ability to deal with the world in which they will work, and leaves them without knowledge of the essential role of the American labor movement in ensuring democratic rights. Senate Bill 108 will help fill that void.
The labor movement is not asking for
special attention; we are asking for balance. The perspective of
business is fully represented in textbooks. Business also has
the financial resources to flood the schools with additional
free curriculum materials to promote its views. We are asking
for legislators to affirm that the history of workers and the
unions they created is important and deserves to be given proper
recognition in our schools. Senate Bill 108 will help accomplish
that goal, and we ask for your support. |
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Support for Senate Bill 195 - Extends Family & Medical Leave to School-Related Activities (December 6, 2007)
To: Senate Education Committee
This legislation provides a much needed expansion of rights under Wisconsin’s Family and Medical Leave Act which would make it easier for working parents to be involved in their children’s education and monitor their care. Research has shown that parental involvement is more important than family education level or income in determining student achievement. The 16 hours of leave that SB 195 allows for parents to participate in school activities, or monitor the child care or preschool their children receive, should be viewed by employers as a good investment in the future. Under Wisconsin’s Family and Medical Leave Act, employees can substitute their earned paid leave for the time taken.
SB 195 would be the first improvement in our Family and Medical Leave Act since it passed in 1988. This is further evidence of the woefully inadequate pace in which employment policy and public policy are changing to address the realities of workers’ lives. Given that in most families both parents are in the workforce, and there are many single-parent households, the right to take time off from work to be involved in a child’s education or care—and not fear retaliation from the employer—is more important than ever.
We urge your support for
SB 195. |
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Support for Senate Bill 228 - Construction Industry Contractor Registration (November 7, 2007)
To: Members of the Senate
The accurate classification of workers as employees rather than independent contractors in the construction industry is essential to ensure basic employment rights and protections for workers, such as Unemployment Insurance, Worker’s Compensation and Social Security, in addition to employer-based benefits such as health coverage. There is a trend by unscrupulous contractors to shortchange workers by deliberately misclassifying those who truly are employees. This undermines and erodes the economic security for workers in the building and construction trades. SB 228 will help address this problem by requiring all contractors to register with the Department of Commerce, prohibiting a construction employer from coercing a worker to falsely declare that he or she is an independent contractor, plus other requirements. SB 228 will also help consumers because they will be able to search the DOC website to determine whether they are hiring a legitimate contractor.
Misclassification of
employees has consequences beyond the abuse done to workers.
Law-abiding contractors who play by the rules governing
classification are forced to compete against firms that
manipulate the classifications to lower labor costs and secure a
competitive advantage. SB 228 will help clarify the employment
relationship in the construction industry which is in the
interest of law-abiding employers, the employees in that vital
sector of our economy, and consumers. We urge your support. |
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Opposition to Assembly Bill 258 October 29, 2007
To: Members of the Assembly
According to the bill analysis of AB 258: “This bill specifies that it is not employment discrimination based on use or nonuse of a lawful product off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours for an employer to offer financial incentives related to employee health care benefits that are intended to encourage or discourage use of a lawful product.”
So where is this taking us? When our Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Executive Board members reviewed this legislation, they were apprehensive about unintended, harmful consequences for employees. They were uncertain about the actual implementation of AB 258 in the workplace and all of its possible implications.
Since the bill appears to be a reaction to rising health care
costs, legislators should really address fundamental health care
reform through Healthy Wisconsin, rather than promote
these employer experiments on workers and their livelihoods.
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Opposition to Assembly Joint Resolution 54 Calls for Taiwan-United States Free Trade Agreement October 23, 2007
To: Members of the Assembly
There is no such thing as free trade.
The trade agreements that have been negotiated by our government are the result of a seriously flawed process that benefits corporate and financial elites at the expense of workers, farmers and domestic producers. Despite all the promises of gains for working families from global trade agreements, real median wages and family income in the U.S. continue to stagnate, while worker productivity soars. We have lost more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2000—many of them to trade—and good white-collar jobs are increasingly vulnerable. Estimates are that 14 million to 42 million service-sector jobs could be subject to offshoring over the next decade—which will offset many of the promised benefits of trade liberalization.
The AFL-CIO is not against expanded trade. However, for globalization to live up to its promise to improve the lives of workers, farmers and the poor throughout the world, we need an entirely new set of global trade rules. Democratically elected governments are also finding their policy options narrowed by global trade rules that impinge on many areas of regulation—from environmental and public health protections to consumer safety and land use rules to labor standards and corporate taxation. Too little attention has been paid to the limits that international trade agreements are placing on federal and state sovereignty.
No
new trade agreements should be negotiated without a thorough
analysis of the content and impact of existing agreements.
Business is not the only constituency affected by trade and
capital market liberalization, and it should not be the only
non-government group at the table when future trade agreements
are written. We welcome a national debate over how best to
reform our trade policies—and how to strengthen the role of
Congress and the state lawmakers in this important and
contentious area.
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Collective Bargaining Rights for UW System Faculty and Academic Staff (September 19, 2007)
To: Democratic Members of the Legislature
One of the top priorities of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO is to support the freedom to organize, especially for some 17,000 UW System faculty members and academic staff who are currently denied that right. Even though they have made Wisconsin’s public higher education system a respected, world class institution, UW System faculty and academic staff are denied even the possibility of self-organization through a union of their own choice and the experience of a balanced collective bargaining process. They deserve the freedom to organize that is afforded to virtually all other public and private sector employees in our state, except for farm workers. They deserve the opportunity to have a meaningful and thorough debate on all aspects of collective bargaining, as well as be assured the democratic right to a union of their choice if a majority votes to support that goal. They deserve to join their colleagues in 29 other states, including every state that borders Wisconsin, in being granted this freedom.
This right to freedom of association is essential. In 1992, the United States ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which declares that employees have “the right to form and join trade unions.” Freedom of association is a bellwether by which the democratic achievement of nations is measured, so this right will certainly be compatible with the structure and mission of the UW System.
We welcome the actions taken by
Governor Doyle and Senate Democrats to include this fundamental
right in their proposed versions of the 2007-09 State Budget.
As Budget Conference Committee members move forward in their
discussions, the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO urges that the
provision to grant bargaining rights to UW System faculty and
academic staff remains a top priority for Democratic
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(August 30, 2007)
To: Wisconsin Building Trades Standing Committee, Building Trades Councils and Building Trades Labor Lobbyists
Re: ACTION IS NEEDED TO PROTECT CONSTRUCTION JOBS
There are major differences in the versions of the 2007-09 Biennial State Budget that have passed the Senate and Assembly. Those differences are now being negotiated by a Budget Conference Committee and a lot is at stake for the trades in these negotiations.
The budget passed by the Assembly Republicans will effectively eliminate $589 million in state building projects. The following are some of the projects affected:
CONTACT YOUR SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE TODAY WITH THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE: Support the State Building Program passed in the Senate version of the State Budget. Keep major state building projects on track and preserve family-sustaining construction jobs.
LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE: 1-800-362-9472 (Ask for your message to be sent to your Senator and Assembly Rep)
E-MAIL: Your representatives can be located at: http://waml.legis.state.wi.us/ or e-mailed directly: rep.(insert last name)@legis.wisconsin.gov sen.(insert last name)@legis.wisconsin.gov
Pass the action alert on to other
building and construction trades members. Legislators need to
hear from us now!
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