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Madison – Supporters of Milwaukee's school choice program spent more than $3 million in 2009 and 2010 to help elect Governor Scott Walker and much of the GOP-controlled legislature while opponents spent a million dollars to elect mostly minority Democrats, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis shows.

Supporters of state-subsidized school privatization led by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, American Federation for Children and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce spent $3.36 million on mostly negative electioneering activities and direct campaign contributions to Walker, three fundraising committees run by legislative leaders and 66 legislators – most of them Republicans.

School choice opponents led by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union, and two dozen local teachers unions spent $1 million on electioneering activities and direct contributions to three legislative fundraising committees and 52 legislators – most of them Democrats.

And since the elections last November, Walker and the legislature's majority Republicans have moved quickly to reward that support with proposals to substantially expand Milwaukee's 20-year-old school choice program which spent $130 million in taxpayer dollars this year to pay for about 20,200 pupils from low-income families to attend private and religious schools.

Walker, who received $125,220 in campaign contributions from school choice supporters in 2009 and 2010 during his campaign for governor, used his proposed 2011-2013 state budget to increase the number of pupils and schools that can participate in the program. Walker also proposed increasing state spending on school choice by $22.5 million while cutting state aid to K-12 public schools by about $840 million in his budget.

In addition to the direct campaign contributions, Walker was the beneficiary of $1.45 million in outside election spending by two of the school choice program's most powerful supporters. Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business group, spent about $1 million to help Walker and the Milwaukee Association of Commerce made $446,450 in contributions to the Republican Governors Association, which spent $5 million in the 2010 elections on a barrage of ads and mailings to smear Walker's opponent.

Supporters of state-paid private schooling contributed $181,627 in 2009 and 2010 to current legislators and three legislative fundraising committees. Top recipients (Table 1) were newly elected Republican Senators Van Wanggaard of Racine at $14,399, Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa at $13,250 and Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls at $12,050.

Most of the largest individual contributors (Table 2) to the legislators and Walker were from outside Wisconsin and gave through the Fund for Parent Choice conduit. Conduits are legal check-bundling outfits created by school choice supporters and other special interest groups to bypass political action committee contribution limits. Conduits can take an unlimited number and amount of individual contributions and combine them to give the recipient one large check.

The parent choice conduit funneled $162,825 in contributions from 26 donors to Walker, current legislators and fundraising committees – $144,075, or 88 percent of those contributions came from Texas, California, Arkansas, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Michigan and Ohio. Most of the contributions to support Milwaukee's school choice program came from members of the Walton family, which owns Walmart, and their company political action committee which collectively contributed $97,600 in 2009 and 2010 to Walker and current legislators.

And only months after winning control of the legislature, Republicans refused to drop school choice eligibility provisions from Walker's proposed state budget even after the Legislative Fiscal Bureau identified them among four dozen policy items that should be considered as separate legislation. Republican legislators also have introduced bills that make some of the program changes sought by Walker in his budget. Those bills were approved recently by the Assembly on near party-line votes.

In addition to direct campaign contributions to the legislators, WMC spent about $900,000 and the American Federation for Children in Washington secretly raised and spent an estimated $730,000 during the 2010 elections mostly on negative broadcast ads and mailings to support Republican legislative candidates and an independent who won their races. The federation is a spin-off of All Children Matter, a Michigan-based shadowy electioneering group that spent $2.5 million to smear legislative and statewide candidates for office between 2004 and 2008.

Walker went to Washington to address the federation's May 9 event on school choice where he surprised many observers with talk of expanding taxpayer support of private and religious schools to other Wisconsin cities in the near future.

Betsy DeVos, who is chair of American Federation for Children, and her husband Dick, a Michigan billionaire and son of the co-founder of Amway Corporation, also founded and ran All Children Matter. Among the federation's other leaders is Scott Jensen, a former state Republican Assembly leader who was convicted on felony misconduct in office charges. The conviction was later overturned on a technicality and Jensen was ordered retried, but he managed to strike a deal to plead guilty to a misdemeanor ethics code violation and pay a $5,000 fine.

Those opposed to school choice and its expansion spent $785,513 on mostly negative outside electioneering activities and $217,734 on direct campaign contributions to support current legislators (Table 3). WEAC doled out $841,432 on outside electioneering activities, contributions to other electioneering groups and direct contributions to current legislators. Their spending included $354,763 on outside activities to support Democratic Senator Kathleen Vinehout of Alma, $230,750 in contributions to the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund, $150,000 to Advancing Wisconsin and $83,889 in PAC contributions and $22,030 in individual contributions through its Childrens Great School Fund conduit to three legislative fundraising committees and current legislators.

The Greater Wisconsin Political Fund and Advancing Wisconsin have spent millions of dollars in recent elections on advertising, mailings, canvassing and other outside electioneering activities to support Democratic candidates for statewide office and the legislature.

In addition to WEAC, two dozen local teachers unions contributed $99,174 to current legislators.

Another school choice opponent, the Wisconsin AFL- CIO, spent $58,515, including a $50,000 contribution to Citizens for a Progressive Wisconsin Political Fund, an outside electioneering group which backed the election of Democratic Senator Chris Larson of Milwaukee, and $8,515 in PAC contributions to two legislative fundraising committees and four Democrats who won their elections. Finally, the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators PAC contributed $4,126 in 2009 and 2010 to current legislators.

Table 1

Individual And Political Action Committee Contributions

To Governor Scott Walker And Legislators From School Choice Supporters

2009 – 2010

Name Party Amount

Scott Walker R $125,220

Van Wanggaard R $14,399

Leah Vukmir R $13,250

Terry Moulton R $12,050

Republican Assembly Campaign Committee R $12,000

Committee to Elect a Republican Senate R $7,500

Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee D $7,050

Frank Lasee R $7,050

Roger Rivard R $5,130

Pam Galloway R $4,749

Dale Schultz R $4,400

Joe Leibham R $4,300

Travis Tranel R $4,300

Jim Steineke R $4,300

Tom Larson R $4,250

Erik Severson R $4,050

Kathy Bernier R $4,000

John Klenke R $3,800

Andre Jacque R $3,500

Keith Ripp R $3,300

Mark Honadel R $3,300

Howard Marklein R $3,274

Mary Williams R $3,200

Lena Taylor D $2,925

Spencer Coggs D $2,800

Tom Tiffany R $2,550

John Murtha R $2,450

Alberta Darling R $2,450

Lee Nerison R $2,250

Jason Fields D $2,200

Garey Bies R $2,100

Karl Van Roy R $1,850

Dan Meyer R $1,650

Leon Young D $1,600

Luther Olsen R $1,400

Jeff Stone R $1,375

Amy Loudenbeck R $1,175

Scott Fitzgerald R $1,150

Neal Kedzie R $1,100

Evan Wynn R $1,100

Dean Knudson R $1,000

Jeffrey Mursau R $1,000

Tim Carpenter D $1,000

Randy Hopper R $1,000

Jim Holperin D $1,000

Dale Kooyenga R $1,000

Jerry Petrowski R $1,000

Jon Erpenbach D $800

Robin Vos R $750

Peggy Krusick D $750

Don Pridemore R $600

Bill Kramer R $600

Jim Ott R $550

John Nygren R $500

Warren Petryk R $500

Dave Hansen D $500

Kevin Petersen R $500

Richard Spanbauer R $500

Sandy Pasch D $500

Daniel LeMahieu R $450

Jeff Fitzgerald R $250

Tamara Grigsby D $250

Tyler August R $250

Scott Suder R $250

Barbara Toles D $250

Peter Barca D $200

Jon Richards D $100

Michael Ellis R $100

Josh Zepnick D $100

Rich Zipperer R $100

TOTAL $306,847

Table 2

Individual And Political Action Committee Contributions

From School Choice Supporters To Governor Scott Walker And Current Legislators

2009 – 2010

Name Location Employer/Affiliation Amount

Walmart Stores PAC Bentonville, AR Walmart $39,000

San & Joanne Orr Wausau, WI Bradley Foundation Board of Directors $25,100

Capitol Gains Club (conduit) Madison, WI Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce $22,948

Lynn & Jim Walton Bentonville, AR Walmart $17,450

Dennis & Sandy Kuester Milwaukee, WI Bradley Foundation Board of Directors $17,000

Carrie & Gregory Penner Menlo Park, CA Walmart $16,500

Alice Walton Millsap, TX Walmart $15,600

Susan & William Oberndorf San Francisco, CA SPO Partners $15,250

George & Susan Mitchell Whitefish Bay, WI School Choice Wisconsin $14,500

Dick & Betsy DeVos Grand Rapids, MI Alticor/Windquest $14,050

Richard & Sherry Sharp Richmond, VA School Choice $12,650

David & Julia Uihlein Milwaukee, WI Bradley Foundation Board of Directors $10,000

Milwaukee Police Association PAC Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Police Association $9,650

Virginia James Lambertville, NJ Retired $9,600

Michael Grebe Milwaukee, WI Bradley Foundation Board of Directors $9,500

Christy Walton Jackson Hole, WY Walmart $9,050

Arthur Dantchik Gladwyne, PA SIG Financial Holdings $9,000

Joel Greenberg Gladwyne, PA SIG Financial Holdings $9,000

Jeff Yass Haverford, PA SIG Financial Holdings $9,000

Concerned Business & Industry PAC Madison, WI Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce $5,499

Howard Fuller

& Deborah McGriff Milwaukee, WI Marquette University/

New Schools Venture Fund $4,025

George Hume San Francisco, CA Basic American Foods $3,500

MMAC Conduit Milwaukee, WI Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce $3,025

John Fisher San Francisco, CA Pisces Inc. $1,675

Ann Brennan Akron, OH White Hat Management $1,400

Metro Milwaukee Association

of Commerce PAC Milwaukee, WI Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce $1,000

Wisconsin Family Action PAC Madison, WI Wisconsin Family Action $800

Milwaukee Professional

Fire Fighters 215 PAC Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Professional Fire Fighters $500

Jim Blew Valencia, CA American Education Reform Council $350

John Robertstad Oconomowoc, WI Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital $125

Maureen Gallagher Waukesha, WI Waukesha Catholic School System $100

TOTAL $306,847

Table 3

Individual And Political Action Committee Contributions

To Current Legislators From School Choice Opponents

2009 – 2010

Name Party Amount

Spencer Coggs D $39,189

State Senate Democratic Committee D $36,000

Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee D $26,265

Dave Hansen D $17,924

Jim Holperin D $13,150

Robert Wirch D $11,900

Kathleen Vinehout D $5,816

Chris Larson D $4,580

David Cullen D $3,650

Sondy Pope-Roberts D $3,600

Janis Ringhand D $3,550

Janet Bewley D $3,400

Penny Bernard Schaber D $3,300

Andy Jorgensen D $2,650

Committee to Elect a Republican Senate R $2,500

Christine Sinicki D $2,250

Amy Sue Vruwink D $2,000

Gary Hebl D $2,000

Nick Milroy D $2,000

Terese Berceau D $2,000

Louis Molepske Jr. D $1,750

Mark Pocan D $1,750

Kelda Helen Roys D $1,700

Mark Radcliffe D $1,550

Cory Mason D $1,450

Fred Clark D $1,350

Bob Jauch D $1,200

Chris Danou D $1,200

Ed Brooks R $1,200

Brett Hulsey D $1,000

Elizabeth Coggs D $1,000

Frederick Kessler D $1,000

Jason Fields D $1,000

Jennifer Shilling D $1,000

JoCasta Zamarippa D $1,000

Josh Zepnick D $1,000

Tamara Grigsby D $1,000

Tony Staskunas D $1,000

Tim Carpenter D $950

Donna Seidel D $750

Robert Turner D $750

Dean Kaufert R $675

Barbara Toles D $500

John Steinbrink D $500

Jon Richards D $500

Leon Young D $500

Peter Barca D $500

Richard Spanbauer R $500

Sandy Pasch D $500

Jeff Stone R $250

Luther Olsen R $250

Randy Hopper R $250

Steve Kestell R $175

Mark Miller D $160

Stephen Nass R $150

TOTAL $217,734

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Tues May 24, 2011

111 trade union leaders and members, including the President of the IUF-affiliated TEKGIDA-İŞ along with four other national officers of the union and 12 branch presidents, and current and former officers of the national centers DISK and KESK, have been indicted on criminal charges in connection with an April 1 demonstration in Ankara in support of 12,000 tobacco workers whose jobs and acquired rights were eliminated overnight. The charges carry prison terms of up to 5 years. The trials, which begin on June 3, are a massive attack on trade union rights and the rights of all workers.

Use the form below to send a message to the Prime Minister and the the Labour and Social Security Minister of Turkey demanding that all charges be immediately and unconditionally withdrawn.

Your support is vital! Click on link to send message.

IUF.org, Tues May 24 2011

The Alberta Federation of Labour says Employment and Immigration Minister Thomas Lukaszuk is going to leave his cabinet post to run for the provincial PC leadership. The AFL worries, by doing so, Lukaszuk will leave a lot work undone, such as bumping up minimum wage, improving workplace health and safety, and fixing the Temporary Foreign Worker program.

But Lukaszuk says the AFL should rein in its predictions about his political future.

"They have never been accurate on anything they have predicted up to now," says Lukaszuk. "You can guess that they may not be accurate on this one either. If I make that decision, I will let you know."

Lukaszuk also questions the timing of the AFL's prediction, given the crisis surrounding the Slave Lake fires. "We're simply swamped trying to help Albertans," he says, calling the union's comments "unbecoming and in poor taste."

The AFL argues that now is the perfect time to increase minimum wage, as a lot of students will soon be seeking summer jobs. Lukaszuk says the government's priority is helping displaced residents from the Slave Lake area.

iNews880, Sat May 21 2011
Byline: Reid Wilkins

Minmum wage should be raised now, before thousands of high school students get summer jobs, says McGowan

EDMONTON – Before he steps down to pursue the leadership of the PC Party, Employment and Immigration Minister Lukaszuk should make good on the promise he made to raise the minimum wage, says the Alberta Federation of Labour.

“Lukaszuk’s first act when he became minister a year and a half ago was to freeze Alberta’s minimum wage,” say AFL president Gil McGowan. “At the time, he said he would review the practice of automatically indexing the minimum wage and only consider an increase when the provincial economy returned to health. Well, the review is done and the recession is over. It’s time for the Minister to live up to the promise he made to Alberta’s poorest workers.”

At $8.80 per hour Alberta, Canada’s wealthiest province, has the second lowest minimum wage in the country – after B.C. But B.C. premier Christy Clark recently announced that the minimum wage in B.C. will be increased to $10.25 per hour in May 2012.

McGowan says the time is right for Lukaszuk to increase Alberta’s minimum wage because the K-12 school year is almost over.

“Thousands of high school students will soon be applying for jobs and many of those jobs will pay minimum wage or close to it. Before Lukaszuk himself considers applying for a new job, that of premier, he should raise the minimum wage and help out those students,” says McGowan.

McGowan says both of Lukaszuk’s conditions for increasing the minimum wage have been met.

First, the Alberta economy has clearly returned to good health. Investment is up and unemployment is down. Retail sales are up nearly 6 per cent from last year. And the province’s average weekly earnings rose by nearly 7 per cent and are the highest in the country.

“Clearly, we can afford to give Albertans earning minimum wage a raise,” says McGowan.

Lukaszuk’s second condition was that a review be conducted of Alberta’s system for indexing and increasing the minimum wage. This was done last summer and fall by a special all-party committee of the Legislature. In December, the committee recommended that the minimum wage immediately be increased to $9.05 and that a system for regular cost-of-living increases be implemented.

“Despite the committee’s recommendations, the silence from the Minister on this issue has been deafening,” says McGowan.

Other jobs that will be left undone if Lukaszuk resigns include: making change to improve workplace health and safety; extending basic rights to agricultural workers; and fixing the Temporary Foreign Worker program (which Lukaszuk has admitted himself is dysfunctional).

“If Lukaszuk wants to be taken seriously as a leadership candidate, you’d think he’d want to finish at least some of this work before giving up the reins at the Employment and Immigration department,” says McGowan. “Increasing the minimum wage would be a good place to start and an important legacy to leave.”

The AFL is Alberta’s largest labour organization, representing 145,000 unionized Alberta workers.

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Media Contact:  Gil McGowan, president, Alberta Federation of Labour @ 780-218-9888

Re: "Justice for firefighters," Editorial, May 12.

The Alberta Federation of Labour welcomes the news that Alberta will extend Workers' Compensation Board coverage to include volunteer firefighters. These courageous people -whether professional or volunteer -put their lives on the line to protect Albertans' lives and property. They deserve to be protected and are entitled to the same compensation benefits as other workers.

As Employment and Immigration Minister Thomas Lukaszuk says: "At the end of the day, this is not about dollars and cents." One wonders, then, how he can justify continuing to exclude agricultural workers from the same workplace compensation coverage. Theirs, too, is a dangerous occupation (in the nine years the Alberta government has been consulting on how to improve safety for agricultural workers, 160 people have died on farm work sites.) They do important work -putting food on the tables of Albertans. This is the only province that maintains 19th-century rules where farm workers are excluded from occupational health and safety laws, as well as legislation governing hours of work and overtime, statutory holidays, vacation pay, the right to refuse unsafe work, and being informed of work-related dangers and compensation if they are injured on the job.

This is about doing what's right. That means extending the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Workers' Compensation Act to cover paid farm workers.

Gil McGowan, Edmonton Gil McGowan is president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

Calgary Herald, Mon May 16 2011

Re: "WCB to cover volunteer firefighters who get cancer on job; Bill provides same benefits as full-timers get," The Journal, May 11.

The Alberta Federation of Labour welcomes the news that Alberta will extend Workers' Compensation Board coverage to include volunteer firefighters.

These courageous people -whether professional or volunteer -put their lives on the line to protect the lives and property of Albertans. Theirs is a dangerous occupation. They deserve to be protected and are entitled to the same compensation benefits as other workers.

As Employment and Immigration Minister Thomas Lukaszuk says: "At the end of the day this is not about dollars and cents."

One wonders, then, how he can justify continuing to exclude agricultural workers from the same workplace compensation coverage. Theirs, too, is a dangerous occupation. In the nine years the Alberta government has been consulting on how to improve safety for agricultural workers, 160 people have died on farm work sites.

They do important work -putting food on the tables of Albertans. This is the only province that maintains 19th century rules, where farm workers are excluded from occupational health and safety laws, as well as legislation governing hours of work and overtime, statutory holidays, vacation pay, the right to refuse unsafe work, being informed of work-related dangers and compensation if they are injured on the job.

This is not about dollars and cents, it's about doing what's right -that means extending the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Workers' Compensation Act to cover paid farm workers.

Gil McGowan, president, Alberta Federation of Labour

Edmonton Journal, Mon May 16 2011

Right to Work legislation has been returning, like a zombie to NH since the 1980's. It's been rejected every time. This year, with an NH House filled with a huge number of freshman legislators who are allied with the Tea Party, the Free Staters, and even the John Birch Society, the out-of-state special found fertile ground. As Doug reported yesterday, NH Governor John Lynch vetoed the bill that had passed both the NH House and the Senate.

Last month, I wrote about a legislator who was threatened for refusing to vote for right to work. That piece had a link to the testimony of the NH Labor Commissioner before the NH House:

Copadis said he had held meetings with 2,000 New Hampshire businesses over the six years he has been commissioner and the issue of right-to-work legislation never came up.

If no one in NH wanted it - what is this all about?

Former State Senator Mark Hounsell provides some insight in The Keene Sentinel:

I maintain the bill is about union busting from personal experience. In 1985 as a member of the Senate I sponsored right to work legislation. My sponsorship provided me access to the intents and strategies of the Virginia based National Right to Work Committee. The NRW committee believes that if it can pass certain provisions state by state it will effectively cause the demise of unions nationwide.

That's what it's about. Hounsell says it simply, and he should know. He's been on both sides of this issue. He came into it on the side of Right to Work, and learned better along the way. He's been a staunch labor supporter for the last decade. He lays out the realities for NH workers should the veto be overturned very clearly.

If enacted, HB 474 will drive down wages and benefits, and the entire economy will suffer. On average union workers earn 28 percent more in wages and benefits then unorganized workers. On average, women union workers earn 34 percent more in wages and benefits than non-union women workers.

Workers in states with right to work laws earn $5,500 less per year than workers currently earn in New Hampshire.

The speculation has begun about who Speaker O'Brien and the special interest groups will "turn" in order to override the Governor's veto. There's plenty of time for threats and harassment between now and the vote on May 25, and we've seen this group isn't afraid of either.

We'll keep you posted.

Main Street, Thurs May 12 2011

The provincial government has shown once again that its attitude toward inspecting workplaces is putting Albertans in danger, says the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL).

"Despite undeniable and uncontested evidence of a workplace problem that played a role in the death of a worker's wife, the Ministry of Employment and Immigration said it would not investigate because a complaint had not been filed," says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, which represents 140,000 workers.

Narin Sok, a 51-year-old employee at a scrap metal yard, was found to be suffering from heavy-metal toxicity due to exposure at his workplace, according to an agreed statement of facts submitted at his Court of Queen's Bench trial for the 2008 murder of his wife, Deang Huon. Crown and defence lawyers agreed that Sok is not criminally responsible for the death due to delirium caused by the condition.

"The excuse of not investigating because no complaint has been filed is the same feeble reasoning used by Employment and Immigration Minister Thomas Lukaszuk when confronted with research provided by the AFL last month that showed widespread violations of rules governing child workers," says McGowan.

"The government's complaints-driven process is a failure. The only way to keep workplaces safe is for a proactive campaign of vigorous and frequent random inspection by inspectors with real powers to punish violators. Instead, this government chooses to wait for complaints to be filed and reacts to them – literally waiting until people are hurt before taking action," says McGowan.

"The minister boasts about his recent string of blitz inspections of forklift operations, young workers and commercial construction sites, but these have come after accidents or concerns have been raised in the media. These blitzes alone are not enough to prevent problems. Even though warnings were given in advance of the inspection blitzes, a staggering number of problems have been uncovered. Once the inspection blitz is over, bad employers know that the spotlight has been turned off and they are free to return to even worse safety practices."

The AFL has called for blitzes to be backed up with more concrete action, including ongoing random inspections, hiring even more inspectors than the minister has announced, giving them increased powers to issue on-site tickets for violations, increased mandatory training for such things as forklift operations and mandatory joint worker-employer safety committees.

"The number of workers killed on the job jumped by 24 per cent to 136 last year. It is way past time the government started doing its job and protected its citizens, rather than relying on show-and-tell blitzes for the media and having his department wait for the phone to ring with a complaint after another person has died or been hurt," says McGowan.

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Contact: Gil McGowan, president, Alberta Federation of Labour, is attending the CLC convention in Vancouver and can be reached at 780-218-9888

ST. JOHN'S, NL, May 12 /CNW/ - A government-commissioned report examining the 18-month labour dispute at Voisey's Bay is a vindication for all workers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"Although we are disappointed that anti-scab legislation was not included, the report is the first step in restoring fairness for workers and their families in Newfoundland and Labrador," says Wayne Fraser, Director of the United Steelworkers (USW) union in Atlantic Canada and Ontario.

"The commission's report recognizes that existing law does not deal adequately with collective bargaining problems created when powerful multinational corporations are determined to defeat workers at the bargaining table," adds USW Canadian Director Ken Neumann.

"If these recommendations had been in place prior to our negotiations with Vale, we would not have had an 18-month strike and the economic and social harm suffered by working families and their communities," Neumann says.

The Voisey's Bay workers are represented by the USW. Their struggle for a fair collective agreement included an 18-month strike against Brazil-based Vale, which ended in late January of this year.

The Industrial Inquiry Commission recommends the provincial government adopt new mechanisms to "take account of the need to ensure that (multinational) corporations respond to Canadian labour relations values."

The commission also recommends mechanisms to deal with situations in which collective bargaining is undermined by "the relative economic weight" of one of the parties involved.

"In our view, these recommendations reflect Vale's management style and its insistence on reducing the rights of workers in Canada to match its labour relations standards elsewhere in the world," says Fraser.

The Steelworkers welcome the commission's other recommendations, which call on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to:

- Recognize that mandatory labour-management committees should exist in every workplace;

- Implement interest arbitration as an effective means to achieve a fair collective agreement;

- Ensure Vale and the USW work with aboriginal peoples to ensure all participate and share in the benefits of the Voisey's Bay operations.

"We are pleased with the recommendation to work with the aboriginal peoples - the USW has made efforts in this regard and we will continue to do so," Fraser says.

"We are calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to do the right thing and put these recommendations into law as quickly as possible."

To view the Industrial Inquiry Commission's complete recommendations, visit www.usw.ca.

CNW, Thurs May 12 2011

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Local police and firefighters would no longer be exempted from key restrictions on collective bargaining under a proposed bill.

A bill introduced by Independent Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer of Manitowoc would eliminate collective bargaining rights for public safety employees on health care and pension contributions. The bill does not require employee contributions to health care and pension funds, but would allow municipalities to mandate them.

Ziegelbauer says the bill is an attempt to apply key parts of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget repair bill to police and firefighters without "blowing up" the entire collective bargaining process. Ziegelbauer voted for Walker's bill.

Walker's bill curtails collective bargaining rights for most public employees, but exempts police and firefighters. A judge has blocked the law from taking effect.

WBAY.com, Wed May 11 2011