ALF V1

The Alberta Federation of Labour says the government's new budget shows the Progressive Conservative Party is more concerned about the Wildrose Alliance than it is about workers, families and communities.

A-F-L President Gil McGowan says the budget contains 6.6-billion dollars in construction spending, but spending on services will not increase, which will mean a cut when inflation is taken into account. He says there is little point in building new health facilities and schools if there is no money to hire staff to run them.

McGowan says the budget lacks a plan to deal with the billions of dollars in resource royalty revenues the government is not collecting from energy companies.

inews880, Fri Feb 25 2011

"This year's budget shows the Progressive Conservative Party is more concerned about the Wildrose Alliance than it is about Alberta's workers, families and communities."

That's the reaction to the provincial budget from the Alberta Federation of Labour.

President Gil McGowan notes that this year's budget contains $6.6 billion in infrastructure spending, while program spending will not increase over last year, meaning a reduction when inflation is taken into account.

"After years of neglect, Alberta needs infrastructure investment," says McGowan. "However, without adequate program funding, Stelmach's legacy will be empty hospitals and schools. There is little point building new health facilities and schools if we don't have the funds to hire staff to run them."

McGowan says the budget proves the Tories are like the Wildrose Alliance in another important way: both parties only look at the spending side of the budget and ignore the revenue side.

"This budget is totally bereft of any plan to deal with the billions of dollars the government is failing to collect by not meeting its own targets on royalty revenues. The provincial purse lost about $37 billion in the last decade thanks to this madness," says McGowan.

"Like the Wildrose Alliance, the Tories are willing to let billions of dollars disappear because of politically motivated giveaways and a shoddy collection system."

ctvcalgary.ca, Fri Feb 25 2011

With many different groups to please, each of the major stakeholders have different items on their wish lists leading up to Thursday's budget.

Aden Murphy, VP External of the U of A student union, is worried about the outcome for post secondary institutions.

"Last years budget was pretty hard on university students. It went from 6% to zero". Murphy hopes to see a significant increase in the baseground funding.

Many Edmonton seniors are concerned about health care and hope that it has another positive outcome this year. It's been a turbulent year for the health care system in Alberta. Former CEO of Alberta Health Services was removed from his position and former Tory MLA Raj Sherman publically critisized the system which caused him to be ousted from the PC caucus.

Health care had big benefits from last year's budget - $1.7 billion more than the year before.

Gil McGowan, President of Alberta Federation Of Labour, believes that this year's budget has the same problems as last year's.

"We had a government that was fixated on spending and ignored the other side of the budget equation".

It is hoped that some of the groups will have their requests met at Thursday's budget.

Global Saskatoon, Thurs Feb 24 2011
Byline: Julie Finkelman

Here's a thought: maybe Madison, Wis., isn't Cairo after all. Maybe it's Baghdad - specifically, Baghdad in 2003, when the Bush administration put Iraq under the rule of officials chosen for loyalty and political reliability rather than experience and competence.

As many readers may recall, the results were spectacular - in a bad way. Instead of focusing on the urgent problems of a shattered economy and society, which would soon descend into a murderous civil war, those Bush appointees were obsessed with imposing a conservative ideological vision.

Indeed, with looters still prowling the streets of Baghdad, L. Paul Bremer, the American viceroy, told a Washington Post reporter that one of his top priorities was to "corporatize and privatize state-owned enterprises" - Mr. Bremer's words, not the reporter's - and to "wean people from the idea the state supports everything."

The story of the privatization-obsessed Coalition Provisional Authority was the centerpiece of Naomi Klein's best-selling book "The Shock Doctrine," which argued that it was part of a broader pattern. From Chile in the 1970s onward, she suggested, right-wing ideologues have exploited crises to push through an agenda that has nothing to do with resolving those crises, and everything to do with imposing their vision of a harsher, more unequal, less democratic society.

Which brings us to Wisconsin 2011, where the shock doctrine is on full display.

In recent weeks, Madison has been the scene of large demonstrations against the governor's budget bill, which would deny collective-bargaining rights to public-sector workers. Gov. Scott Walker claims that he needs to pass his bill to deal with the state's fiscal problems. But his attack on unions has nothing to do with the budget. In fact, those unions have already indicated their willingness to make substantial financial concessions - an offer the governor has rejected.

What's happening in Wisconsin is, instead, a power grab - an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis to destroy the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy. And the power grab goes beyond union-busting. The bill in question is 144 pages long, and there are some extraordinary things hidden deep inside.

For example, the bill includes language that would allow officials appointed by the governor to make sweeping cuts in health coverage for low-income families without having to go through the normal legislative process.
And then there's this: "Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state-owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state.

Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b)."

What's that about? The state of Wisconsin owns a number of plants supplying heating, cooling, and electricity to state-run facilities (like the University of Wisconsin). The language in the budget bill would, in effect, let the governor privatize any or all of these facilities at whim. Not only that, he could sell them, without taking bids, to anyone he chooses. And note that any such sale would, by definition, be "considered to be in the public interest."

If this sounds to you like a perfect setup for cronyism and profiteering - remember those missing billions in Iraq? - you're not alone. Indeed, there are enough suspicious minds out there that Koch Industries, owned by the billionaire brothers who are playing such a large role in Mr. Walker's anti-union push, felt compelled to issue a denial that it's interested in purchasing any of those power plants. Are you reassured?

The good news from Wisconsin is that the upsurge of public outrage - aided by the maneuvering of Democrats in the State Senate, who absented themselves to deny Republicans a quorum - has slowed the bum's rush. If Mr. Walker's plan was to push his bill through before anyone had a chance to realize his true goals, that plan has been foiled. And events in Wisconsin may have given pause to other Republican governors, who seem to be backing off similar moves.

But don't expect either Mr. Walker or the rest of his party to change those goals. Union-busting and privatization remain G.O.P. priorities, and the party will continue its efforts to smuggle those priorities through in the name of balanced budgets.

New York Times, Thurs Feb 24, 2011
Byline: Paul Krugman

Edmonton - This is the budget the Wildrose Alliance made, says Gil McGowan, leader of Alberta's largest labour group.

"This budget is straight out of the Wildrose Alliance's playbook - continued starvation diet for Alberta's valued public service, unrealistic expenditure limits and a total lack of any measure to shore-up the province's flagging revenues," says McGowan.

"This year's budget shows the Progressive Conservative Party is more concerned about the Wildrose Alliance than it is about Alberta's workers, families and communities."

McGowan notes that this year's budget contains $6.6 billion in infrastructure spending, while program spending will not increase over last year, meaning a reduction when inflation is taken into account.

"After years of neglect, Alberta needs infrastructure investment," says McGowan. "However, without adequate program funding, Stelmach's legacy will be empty hospitals and schools. There is little point building new health facilities and schools if we don't have the funds to hire staff to run them."

"Stelmach's budget caps program spending at below the rate of inflation and population growth, a direct response to a key platform plank of the Wildrose Alliance. Only a few months ago, the Stelmach government argued that this approach ‘does not necessarily match the practical demand on government for services, programs, and infrastructure.'"

"On the cusp of the next boom, we should be investing in workers, not cutting programs that support training," says McGowan in response a $61 million cut to Employment and Immigration.

McGowan says the budget proves the Tories are like the Wildrose Alliance in another important way: both parties only look at the spending side of the budget and ignore the revenue side.

"This budget is totally bereft of any plan to deal with the billions of dollars the government is failing to collect by not meeting its own targets on royalty revenues. The provincial purse lost about $37 billion in the last decade thanks to this madness," says McGowan. "Like the Wildrose Alliance, the Tories are willing to let billions of dollars disappear because of politically motivated giveaways and a shoddy collection system."

"This government has broken the public trust by claiming poverty in order to justify axing program spending, while ignoring lost revenues and the fact that we're almost out of the recession," says McGowan, noting that the Conference Board of Canada predicts the Alberta economy will recover all the jobs lost during the recession by the end of the year.

"For years, the Tories have consistently under-estimated revenues and over-estimated expenditures and then announced surpluses in later quarters," says McGowan. "Cutbacks now are not only cruel and unnecessary, they're politically motivated. This is further evidence that the Progressive Conservative government is too distracted by polls and leadership squabbles to govern on behalf of the public good."

- 30 -

Media Contact:
Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour @ cell 780-218-9888 or office 780-483-3021

The story from faraway Wisconsin, insofar as it has been covered at all in the Canadian media, is usually treated as a bit of a joke - one that centres on the unusual decision last week by Democratic state senators to hide out in neighbouring Illinois in order to delay a controversial budget vote.

In fact, what's going on in Wisconsin should be of real interest to Ontarians. It is an extraordinary story of how a state renowned for its moderate - even leftish - views has decided to solve its fiscal problems by destroying public sector unions.

Like Ontario, Wisconsin has traditionally been home to a conservative kind of progressivism. It pioneered political party reform and workers' compensation legislation.

In 1924, its most famous populist, Republican Sen. Robert (Fighting Bob) La Follette, ran for president on the Progressive ticket.

In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama carried Wisconsin handily.

But like the rest of North America, Wisconsin suffered from the recession and subsequent slowdown. Its unemployment rate rose; its tax revenues declined. A small state (its population is 5.6 million), its biennial deficit is expected to rise to $3.6 billion by 2011-13.

In relative terms, that's not extreme (Ontario, with a population of 13 million, projects a current annual deficit of $18.7 billion). But it was enough to cause the state's voters to elect hard-line Republican Scott Walker as governor last fall.

Campaigning on a platform of smaller government, Walker promised both $2 billion in tax cuts and a balanced budget. Aided by a Republican-dominated legislature, he has delivered tax cuts - which, of course, promise to increase future deficits. How then to balance the budget?

One part of the governor's solution will be familiar to those who watch Ontario politics. Like Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak, Walker has pledged to end subsidies to green energy projects.

But his real focus is on teachers and others who make up the state's 175,000-person unionized workforce.

Walker wants state workers to pay a higher share of their pension and benefit costs. They've agreed.

Beyond that, however, he wants to effectively gut their unions. Under proposed legislation affecting all state employees - with the significant exception of firefighters and police - hard-won collective bargaining rights would be scaled back to 19th-century levels.

First, workers would be forbidden from negotiating anything other than wages. Issues such as pensions, benefits, working conditions and even holidays would be out of bounds.

Second, wages could rise no more than the cost of living. So even where they could negotiate, unions would have little to talk about.

Third, all contracts would be limited to one year. Bargaining units would require annual certification votes and the payment of dues would become voluntary - moves designed to make the very existence of unions more difficult.

It was the anti-union nature of Walker's so-called budget repair act that caused the state's Democratic senators to flee to Illinois, thereby denying the quorum that would allow this legislation to pass.

But they can't stay away forever. Unless Walker relents - and there's no sign of that - Wisconsin's path-breaking attack on unions seems likely to succeed.

Thanks to a Canadian Supreme Court ruling that protects certain union rights, cash-strapped governments in this country will not be able to copy the governor's exact formula. But political parties here are always on the outlook for bold new ideas from their American cousins. I expect Hudak in particular is watching events in Wisconsin with great interest.

Toronto Star, Wed Feb 23 2011
Byline: Thomas Walkom

Re: "Want to make money? Try public service," Barbara Yaffe, Opinion, Feb. 20, and "Civil servants paid too much," Editorial, Feb. 22.

Yaffe quotes former Reform MP Herb Grubel, who wants to deprive public servants of the right to strike. Wow! The most recent example of someone trying to stop public servants from striking was Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. Nice company you're keeping.

The right to collective bargaining and collective action is fundamental to democracy -and is largely responsible for all those things we enjoy, such as 40hour workweeks, statutory holidays, benefits and a strong economy fuelled by a strong middle class.

Next, Yaffe complains about the rate of pay increases for unionized public-sector workers between 1998 and 2009. Missing are figures for the previous decade, which saw a massive attack on the wages and jobs of public servants.

Then, the column blames bureaucrat raises for a large part of the federal deficit, but fails to point out the effect of massive tax cuts handed to corporations making billions and, in Alberta, to wealthy individuals making millions. If you really want to balance the books, try restoring taxation levels so everybody pays their fair share.

Albertans and Canadians have said time and time again that they want quality public services and are prepared to pay for them in the way of taxes. The alternative is privatizing services, which will result in an unacceptable decline in quality as corporations cut corners to improve bottom lines.

Edmonton Journal, Wed Feb 23 2011
Calgary Herald, Wed Feb 23 2011
Gil McGowan
Gil McGowan is president of the Alberta Federation of Labour

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Democrats kept the Wisconsin Assembly up overnight with a droning filibuster in another desperate attempt to block the Republican governor's bold plan to strip public sector workers of nearly all of their bargaining rights.

The debate marked the first movement in days in what has become a high-stakes game of political chicken between Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker. The governor says the bill is needed to help solve the state's looming budget deficit, but Democrats see it as an all-out assault on unions, their staunchest campaign ally.

Republicans control both the Assembly and Senate, but Democratic senators have blocked a vote in their chamber by fleeing to Illinois. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of demonstrators have descended on the state Capitol in monumental protests that entered their ninth day Wednesday.

One of the 14, Sen. Jon Erpenbach, said from Chicago on Wednesday morning that the senators believe public opinion is on their side and that they don't intend to return until Walker is willing to accept a compromise.

The Assembly debate began around noon Tuesday, with lawmakers coming to the floor under heavy guard as protesters in the rotunda cheered and banged on buckets and bongo drums. Democrats introduced dozens of amendments and gave drawn-out, rambling speeches criticizing the bill. Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald said around 8 a.m. Wednesday - after 20 hours of debate - that he was working with Democratic leaders to take a vote on passing the bill by the end of the day.

"We could get there later tonight," Fitzgerald said.

Democrats didn't have enough votes to get their amendments adopted, so much of the time was spent dissecting the bills and playing to the thousands of protesters who watched the start of the debate on monitors in the rotunda.

"Can you hear that?" Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, screamed into her microphone. "Can you hear the cheers? Can you hear the chants? Can you hear the voices of the people who elected you? How can you not hear that?"

Republicans sat mostly in silence as the debate dragged into the wee hours, though tempers flared when two Democrats lashed out at Republican lawmakers and aides for laughing at them during the debate.

"This is not a game! We're dealing with people's lives! This isn't funny!" Rep. Andy Jorgensen, D-Fort Atkinson, shouted in the chamber, his face red. "I haven't laughed in a long time, especially not on a day like this!"

At one point, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, stood and told Democrats that the state can't afford collective bargaining. Walker's budget, which the governor plans to introduce in the coming weeks, will contain such deep cuts to local governments that they won't be able to survive if public workers don't make concessions, Fitzgerald said.

Dressed in orange T-shirts proclaiming they were fighting for working families, Democrats introduced 66 amendments, with more than half coming after midnight, and promised more were on the way.

Democrats offered to adjourn shortly before 3 a.m., Republicans - who easily have enough votes to pass the bill once they have disposed of the Democrats' amendments - refused and began the long grind of voting each change down one by one.

"We understand. You don't like the bill. We get it," Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, said. "(But) at the end of the day the vote has got to come, folks."

The bill would require most public sector workers, from local librarians to state biologists, to contribute more to their pensions and health insurance. It also would strip them of their right to collectively bargain anything except salaries. Walker has said the plan is crucial to solving a $137 million deficit in the state's current budget and a $3.6 billion shortfall in the 2011-13 budget.

The state's public sector unions have said they would agree to the financial concessions, but won't give up their bargaining rights.

Thousands have rallied to the unions' side, converging on the Capitol day after day demanding Walker's removal. The demonstrations have left the Capitol a mess. The normally sparkling floors are smeared with dirt, protesters' signs cover the marble walls, air mattresses and blankets lay in hallways and state troopers guard every corridor, limiting movement in the building.

Similar battles over union rights are also taking shape in other states. In Indiana, Democrats walked out of the House on Tuesday, blocking a GOP-backed bill against mandatory union dues. They have threatened not to return until Republican lawmakers deliver assurances that they won't move forward on labor legislation.

A similar debate in Ohio drew thousands of union protesters Tuesday, prompting officials there to lock the doors to the Statehouse.

In Wisconsin, Walker tried to turn up the pressure on missing Democrats on Tuesday, saying if lawmakers can't pass the measure by the end of the week the state won't be able to refinance debt to generate $165 million in savings. He warned that state employees could start receiving layoff notices as early as next week if the bill isn't passed soon. However, existing union contracts could forestall the layoffs for weeks or months, and Walker wouldn't say which jobs he would go after first.

Borrowing the strategy pioneered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Walker took his case straight to the voters with a speech from his Capitol office that he called a "fireside chat." With protesters drowning out his message as it was played over monitors in the rotunda, Walker calmly laid out his case for the bill, saying it was needed to balance the state's budget now and into the future.

"It certainly isn't a battle with unions," Walker said. "If it was, we would have eliminated collective bargaining entirely or we would have gone after the private-sector unions."

One of the missing Democrats, Minority Leader Mark Miller, delivered a response from Illinois.

"The only action available to us to slow this down and allow democracy to work was to take us out of the Capitol," he said.

Republicans sat mostly in silence as the debate dragged into the wee hours, though tempers flared when two Democrats lashed out at Republican lawmakers and aides for laughing at them during the debate.

"This is not a game! We're dealing with people's lives! This isn't funny!" Rep. Andy Jorgensen, D-Fort Atkinson, shouted in the chamber, his face red. "I haven't laughed in a long time, especially not on a day like this!"

At one point, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, stood and told Democrats that the state can't afford collective bargaining. Walker's budget, which the governor plans to introduce in the coming weeks, will contain such deep cuts to local governments that they won't be able to survive if public workers don't make concessions, Fitzgerald said.

Dressed in orange T-shirts proclaiming they were fighting for working families, Democrats introduced 66 amendments, with more than half coming after midnight, and promised more were on the way.

Democrats offered to adjourn shortly before 3 a.m., Republicans - who easily have enough votes to pass the bill once they have disposed of the Democrats' amendments - refused and began the long grind of voting each change down one by one.

"We understand. You don't like the bill. We get it," Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, said. "(But) at the end of the day the vote has got to come, folks."

The bill would require most public sector workers, from local librarians to state biologists, to contribute more to their pensions and health insurance. It also would strip them of their right to collectively bargain anything except salaries. Walker has said the plan is crucial to solving a $137 million deficit in the state's current budget and a $3.6 billion shortfall in the 2011-13 budget.

The state's public sector unions have said they would agree to the financial concessions, but won't give up their bargaining rights.

Thousands have rallied to the unions' side, converging on the Capitol day after day demanding Walker's removal. The demonstrations have left the Capitol a mess. The normally sparkling floors are smeared with dirt, protesters' signs cover the marble walls, air mattresses and blankets lay in hallways and state troopers guard every corridor, limiting movement in the building.

wisconsinrapidstribune.com, Wed Feb 23 2011
Byline: Todd Richmond, Associated Press

The Alberta government's move to scrutinize forklift safety on work sites in a provincewide blitz starting Tuesday is long overdue, says the mother of a young man who was crushed to death in a workplace accident linked to the equipment.

On Saturday, Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk said the province will begin extra inspections at workplaces cross Alberta that use forklifts. The decision was prompted by the high number of forkliftrelated injuries and deaths in recent years, Lukaszuk said.

"It's about time for someone to get out there and check these things and see what's going on," said Carol Gillard.

In 2005, her son, Sean O'Keefe, was killed when 680-kilogram steel frames he was helping move in his job with a Nisku company dislodged from a forklift and fell on him. The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure safety at work and agreed in court that the operator of the forklift didn't have specific training for the machine.

"They are a dangerous piece of equipment, and, in some places, they're just like a play toy," Gillard said.

"The proper training -they need to check that."

According to the employment minister, the blitz is intended to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries due to the equipment.

Last year, Alberta recorded 219 injuries and 116 lost-time claims due to forklift accidents, Lukaszuk said. There were four fatalities in 2008 and one in 2009, he added.

"Today, we're giving Alberta employers a fair warning that we will be visiting their job sites where forklifts and similar equipment will be used and inspecting them, and we expect them to be properly trained and operating the equipment safely and appropriately," he said.

Under provincial legislation, workers must be trained to safely operate powered mobile equipment such as forklifts. The law, however, doesn't specify the types of training required and it's ultimately up to the discretion of inspectors and, in serious cases, Crown prosecutors and a judge, to determine whether employers ensured workers were competent enough to operate the equipment.

Alberta's requirements lag when it comes to this type of machinery training and certification, contended Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan on Saturday.

Other provinces, such as Manitoba, have a much more rigorous system for driver education and licensing, he said.

"Forklifts are not toys. They're serious pieces of industrial equipment and as a result, they need to be treated with much greater respect than has been the case here in Alberta," McGowan said. "That means we need to follow the Manitoba example and institute a formal system for operator education and certification."

Bob Reid, owner of Bugle Forklift Sales and Rentals in Calgary, said the number of incidents related to the equipment is "astounding."

His company also provides Alberta Safety Codes Council certified safety training classes for drivers who have some experience with forklifts.

"It's knowing what can go wrong. Centre of gravity is huge," said Reid, who noted that the ranges of equipment can carry loads from 450 kilograms to 36,000 kilograms.

Many employers are conscientious about ensuring training and safety, he said.

It's important drivers learn the intricacies of the equipment and know how to operate it properly, he added.

The province's workplace safety record has come under fire recently from opposition politicians and labour leaders who contend Alberta must do a better job of taking violators to court and hire more inspectors. Alberta workers regularly face one of the highest fatality rates in the country.

A blitz on Alberta construction sites last fall uncovered more than 200 safety infractions. A quarter of the violations led the government officers to issue orders to halt work on the site because employees faced imminent dangers.

On Saturday, Lukaszuk said the current blitz is part of a larger plan focusing on improving safety.

The forklift inspections will look at hundreds of sites and may result in fines, stop-work orders and charges. The minister said he'll make the findings public following the blitz.

Occupational Health and Safety officers will be examining training and equipment.

Additional inspections focusing on young workers and residential construction are also in the works for 2011, Lukaszuk said.

Calgary Herald, Tues Feb 22 2011
Byline: Jamie Komarnicki

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is deeply concerned about Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's efforts to strip collective bargaining rights from 175,000 public sector workers.

If enacted, the proposed legislation will have grave repercussions for all workers and citizens in Wisconsin and well beyond the state if attempted elsewhere. This represents more than a removal of collective bargaining rights from public sector workers. It would destroy a social contract that has stood the test of time. If the citizens of Wisconsin view this as a model for how an employer can act, then all workers in the state, private as well as public, unionized and non-unionized, are in peril.

Under the proposed legislation, all working conditions, health and safety and worker's compensation provisions, leave entitlements, seniority rules, equality provisions, grievance procedures, representation rights, pensions and benefits would no longer be negotiated. Real salary increases would have to be put to a referendum.

The legislation would also require union members to hold annual votes on whether to remain in the union, make the payment of union dues voluntary and increase worker contributions to state pension plans. In addition, the legislation proposes to cut benefits to Medicaid for all retirees and other beneficiaries of public health care, and to sell key public utilities.

On behalf of the 3.2 million unionized workers in Canada, the CLC deplores this effort to end free collective bargaining in a jurisdiction that was the cradle of public sector bargaining in the United States. The CLC is appalled at this effort to discredit public sector workers and blame our U.S. brothers and sisters for the fiscal pressures faced by all levels of governments. This is not only immoral, but is contrary to U.S. commitments to international law and to the International Labour Organization.

It was not public sector workers and their collective agreements that caused the fiscal deficit faced by Wisconsin. The state's fiscal crisis has its roots in the financial crisis and resulting economic devastation that the United States has not yet recovered from. Only a few weeks ago, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission concluded that the economic crisis was caused by failures in government regulation, corporate mismanagement and irresponsible risk-taking in the financial sector. The Commission concluded that the financial crisis was completely avoidable.

Wisconsin's fiscal troubles will not be solved by stripping public sector workers of their rights. The legislation is, however, designed to weaken unions over the long term. Despite massive opposition to this draconian legislation, Republican legislators intend to pursue their course, and Ohio and other U.S. states are considering similar action. This assault on long accepted collective agreements would be disastrous for all workers and for citizens, who depend on quality public services.

The Canadian Labour Congress stands in solidarity with its brothers and sisters in the United States as they work to defeat this alarming legislative initiative.

www.clc-ctc.ca