Monday, March 14, 2011

The following is what I posted on Facebook on Monday 3/14/11, with ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY.

Most of what I post on Facebook, I do from work, which means, on my phone, which means, very small character limit (not sure why that is true of Facebook for Android). And since some newspapers have very long URLs, there are times when my commentary is more limited than I'd like.

12:21pm: working without a contract as of today. And GEF3 will be without electricity on Saturday, which might mean no keycard access...

Per Scott Walker's announcement on 2/11/11, our contracts did indeed end on March 13, 2011. I'm still not clear if this is legal or not - there are some who had been saying that a contract continues until a new one is signed. We had been working under an extension, since July 2009, however. Many terms of our contracts will apparently stay in place despite the passing of part of the Budget Repair Bill, but we will start paying additional for health insurance, plus half our pension, starting very soon, and we will also need to pay our dues directly to the union.

On Monday morning, an email went out in my building (GEF 3) that said:On Saturday, March 19th, DOA will be shutting off power to the GEF3 office building
so they can do routine maintenance work. This is important work that has not
happened for several years. The building power may be off for as much as 8 hours
beginning sometime between 7:30 and 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

As a result, please do not come to the office intending to work. Also know that
during this time frame there will be no access to the DPI computer system. The DPI
web site will be available as that is hosted on a computer outside of this
building.

We believe that with the power out, the doors will be locked and our access cards
will not work. This would apply to the parking as well as the regular building
doors. We are confirming this and will share the answer when it is available.

GEF 3 is where the underground parking garage is located. I haven't been down to the whole garage, but I'm told that last weekend, the first two levels were full, and people were parking on the third sub-level.

This is apparently (not surprisingly) very unusual on the weekends. But GEF 3 is located 2 blocks from the Capitol, and is open to a number of state employees. I went in the building several times during the day to use the bathroom, warm up, and sit down. Each time I was in there, I saw at least 4 or 5 other staff people, often with their friends and families. One of my coworkers was there, making hot chocolate for their partner and kids. Obviously, state workers are pissed, and we are going to protest on the weekends.

While it is certainly possible that DOA needs to do some sort of work involving turning off our electricity, the timing is very suspicious. I'm hoping people will be smart and carpool (and also, will share this information so people who work in buildings other than GEF will know to carpool and park elsewhere...or perhaps state workers can just circle the outer loop all day long :))

12:27pm And, finally, a solidarity forever singalong!


1:05pm wonders if anyone would be up for a slightly high risk action refusing to go through the metal detectors (which were NOT there on Jan 28th!)??? I have an idea...
Of course, I can't just post my ideas on the internet. That would be dumb. The judge's order regarding the limited access to the public from February 28th to March 3rd was that protesters needed to leave on March 3rd, and then the state had until March 8th at 8am to return access to how it had been in January. As of yesterday, there are walk-through metal detectors, only 2 doors open for access, and a ton of law enforcement, mostly state troopers.  


4:25pm loves how many BLATENTLY pro-union signs are hanging up in this government building.
Further expanded in comments: There are WEAC "care about educators" signs in a bunch of windows (visible from outside), and one of my (generally not really politically involved) coworkers has a pink "Walker, your pink slip is coming" AFSCME sign hanging on her cube. Maybe I can display my sign without losing my job? (My sign says "Pray for Democracy and Fight Like Hell for the UNION")

6:38pm thinks it is very important to thank the politicians who are listening to their constituents. Republican Nygren stands up for state recycling aid, and a continued requirement that localities support this service: http://budget.wispolitics.com/2011/03/nygren-opposed-to-recycling-changes-in.html


Particularly as the main biennial budget debates get under way, there seem to be more and more bits of Republicans breaking ranks and actually listening to their constituents. It will be interesting to see how this plays out (i.e. whether it has an affect, and whether they keep stepping out of the party line).

9:03pm  Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says that the Democrats are still in contempt of the Senate (how? they are back now. the Senate isn't in session). Therefore, they cannot vote on committees: http://budget.wispolitics.com/2011/03/fitzgerald-dem-senators-wont-be-allowed.html. My coworker's parents live near the Fitzgerald summer cottage, was talking about putting a SHAME sign in their yard...can't hide!

There are some very clear power trips taking place. The best part about MY senator, Fred Risser, is that he has been around forever. So he can issue very decisive statements regarding the outrageous and unprecedented nature of these moves: http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/March11/0315/0315risser.pdf

9:08pm An article about M&I Bank, one of the first major targets of the Walker-supporter boycott (Firefighters withdrew $190k from the Madison branch the other day): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/wisconsins-backstabbing-b_b_835425.html?ref=fb&src=sp. The only thing is, I'm not sure that the tunnel belongs to the bank. I'm pretty sure that the tunnel counts as state property...

There's a lot to say on the topic of boycotts. There's also a lot to say about throwing inflammatory accusations without factual basis. I suspect that while the tunnel opening is in the parking lot of M&I, the tunnel belongs to the state. Just a guess...I don't think our last few administrations would have sold off a tunnel into the Capitol. This administration? Probably will. 

9:17pm  Clearly, public transportation is the kind of wasteful spending and socialist ideology that Scott Walker deplores. Thus, we must be rid of funding for it: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/dave_zweifel/article_d25d5fd1-ee8b-506f-8a65-a74dfb8b8140.html

A common theme that has emerged is that Scott Walker and I have very different views of what it means to be "open for business" and what it means to be fiscally responsible.

9:21pm  The next hearing on the issue of public access to the Capitol will not be until May. This, in my mind, strenghtens the need for action. http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_6bbf075a-4e89-11e0-b47b-001cc4c03286.html

On the other hand, at least organizations are pushing this. If we hadn't left the building, you can bet the state would have insisted that we were in contempt (hell, even on Thursday 3/17/11, the Dem Sens are still in contempt of Senate!). We met our end of the agreement, now the state needs to uphold theirs.

9:26pm  Another item in jeopardy in the 2011-2013 Budget proposal is SeniorCare, Wisconsin's prescription program for seniors which is both cheaper and easier than dealing with Medicare Part D: http://www.jsonline.com/business/117911229.html. If Walker has a grandma, I hope she's giving him a piece of her mind.


It's all one struggle. We can't just focus on labor. There are so many other critical programs at stake right now!


9:28pm  I don't think I already posted this: A Dane County judge has recused herself from a lawsuit about the Budget Repair Bill (Dane County is pressing legal challenge): http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_fb2c1292-4e62-11e0-a195-001cc4c002e0.html

I have actually gotten confused about which lawsuits are regarding what. But I hope to get clearer soon :)  

9:30pm  There are concerns that Walker is not listening...particularly in the African-American community of Milwaukee (he was the county executive of Milwaukee County before his rise to governor): http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/117866379.html

It's very hard to know, as a WI newcomer, and Madison-dweller, what Walker was like previously. Most of what I know is that he was anti-organized labor, pro-privatization, obsessed with reining in spending, and tended to act quickly and then deal with repercussions (i.e. problems with illegality of actions) later.  From this article, though, it sounds like he was an approachable politician, at least from the black community in Milwaukee. Since so much of a recall depends on people who had previously voted for him, turning away, it's promising to hear that people who once supported him (or at least, felt that he could listen to their voices) are no longer recognizing this politician.  And Milwaukee stands to lose a TON of education funding through the biennial budget.  On the other hand, there are a lot of private interests in Milwaukee that Walker's plans benefit. 


9:32pm  Another item to be cut in the 2011-2013 proposed Budget: Farmland Preservation. Why be "The Dairy State" when you can be "The State Formerly Known The Dairy State" (and eventually, just a little logo): http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/117910614.html

9:35pm  And finally, since I am tired, one final link for the evening: An article about which twitter tags and people to follow for news on WI. http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/whatsnews/article_47bb0670-4df7-11e0-bf11-001cc4c03286.html. 

And that was it for Monday. Up some time: Other days. Pictures. Etc.