Rally for Public Employees

AFT-Wisconsin President Kennedy will be at Oregon State Capitol on Monday, March 7

SALEM—American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin (AFT-Wisconsin) President Bryan Kennedy will be in Salem and available to visit with media reporters regarding issues being widely reported about Wisconsin public employee collective bargaining and that state’s current state budget issues. AFT-Wisconsin is a labor organization representing 17,000 public employees in the state of Wisconsin.

When: Monday, March 7, 2011, 9:30 a.m.

Where: Capitol Press Room, State Capitol, Salem

Kennedy will be in Oregon speaking to AFT members about the struggles facing employees in Wisconsin at the joint PLAN Legislative Education Day. PLAN is the Political and Legislative Action Network of AFT-Oregon and Local 6732, Oregon School Employee Association (OSEA). He is also scheduled as a special guest speaker at the Noon, Oregon AFL-CIO Rally for Jobs, on the steps of state capitol.

AFT-Wisconsin is a sister federation to AFT-Oregon and Local 6732 (OSEA), which represent some 33,000 education workers in Oregon. All are affiliated with the national American Federation of Teachers, and the AFL-CIO.

Contact:

Richard Schwarz, AFT-Oregon Executive Director

richards@aft-oregon.org

Jillian Smith, AFT-Oregon Assistant Director Communications

jillians@aft-oreogn.org

What You Can Do to Help Wisconsin

Help the protesters directly by:

1.     Purchasing Food for them from one of the following locations:

a.     Ian’s Pizza – $20 donation buys & delivers a pizza to the Capitol – Call (608) 257-9248 – http://www.ianspizza.com/

b.     The Willy Street Co-op is accepting donations for food/water for “whichever side of the issue the caller would like them to deliver to”

Call 608-251-6776 or in-person at the Willy East Customer Service desk

http://www.willystreet.coop/co-op_offers_process_for_donating_to_protesters

c.     Other local businesses willing to make deliveries to the protesters:
from http://www.defendwisconsin.org/2011/02/24/local-business-send-supplies/

Grocery:
Centre Market, 608-255-2616
Regent Market Co-op, 608-233-4329

Food and Beverage
EVP Coffee, 608-294-6868
Indie Coffee, 608-259-9621
Just Coffee, 608-204-9011
Mermaid Coffee, 608-249-9719
Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse, 608-259-1301
Nature’s Bakery, 608-257-3649
Silver Mine Subs, 608-286-1000
Steep N Brew, 608-256-2902
Straight To Your Door (coupon: killthebill)
Underground Kitchen, 608-514-1516
Community Pharmacy, 608-251-3242

2.     Donate directly to Teaching Assistants Association-Madison fund for organizing supplies, food, coffee, etc.

http://helpdefendwisconsin.org/

Sign the AFL/CIO’s Wisconsin Solidarity Pledge:

Bunsis Part I

Howard Bunsis – Part II

Howard Bunsis – Part III

Howard Bunsis – Part IV

We Produce!

The following video is University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse physics professor Eric Barnes’ response to the charge that faculty don’t need or deserve unions because they do not produce anything. A partial transcript below:

We produce engineers who design safe bridges and vehicles;

Scientists who cure disease and find new technology to make our lives better;

We produce high school teachers, middle school teachers, and elementary school teachers who care for our kids and shape the minds of the future generations of this state;

We produce businesswomen, accountants, and economists who strengthen Wisconsin’s prosperity and create jobs;

We produce historians and philosophers who give us new insights into [the] world that we live in;

Artists and entertainers who give us thought- and emotion-provoking images of our culture;

Together we manufacture the future of Wisconsin.

In the Midst of It All, One Faculty Votes Union

The news out of Wisconsin the last couple of weeks has been both horrible and exhilarating.  The attack on public employees in Wisconsin is an attack on all working people across the country. At the same time, the tens of thousands of people who have gathered in Madison to defend their rights are an inspiration to us all.

While the fight in Madison is dominating the nation’s attention, the faculty in LaCrosse, Wisconsin have resisted Gov. Walker’s plan to end collective bargaining by voting to form a union.

On Thursday, the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse voted 249-37 to organize as part of the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin. The 286 ballots cast represented an 87 percent turnout.

UW-L faculty members said they weren’t daunted by the threat of losing bargaining powers.

“I think it’s galvanized the faculty to maybe push back a little bit,” said Darlene Lake, an associate professor of modern languages.

“I think we’re much better off with a union than without it, particularly if the bill passes,” history professor Deborah Buffton said.

Michael Abler, an associate professor of biology and an AFT-Wisconsin representative who has worked for years to gain bargaining rights, said the state battle “helped crystallize” the issue on campus.

“Unions aren’t just about collective bargaining,” said Susan Crutchfield, an associate professor and chairwoman of the English department. “Unions can make a lot of waves, because they’re organized.”

Public employee unions are under attack throughout the Midwest and anti-public employee sentiment is high across the country. By speaking with one voice, public employees can try to change the conversation, or at least be part of it. Until we work together, we are alone.

More information about the union protests in Wisconsin here and here.

Financial Condition and Priorities at UO

Click here to get a pdf of this document

A Fiscal Analysis of the UO and the Oregon University System

Below is a link to the information that Howard Bunsis will be presenting to the faculty.

A Fiscal Analysis of UO and the Oregon University System

The Union Advantage for NTTF

RAs, Postdocs, and Lab Techs – The Union Difference