The Journal Sentinel has the latest on GOP proposals to curb public sector union rights:
Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill to be unveiled Friday would wipe away the ability of public worker unions to negotiate over anything but their wages.
That would mean unions would not have a say on benefits and work rules. The bill would also allow public employees to avoid making payments to unions if they don't join those unions. Now, workers can choose not to join unions, but they must make "fair share" payments similar to dues - a requirement that unions say is needed because all workers potentially benefit from their work at the bargaining table.
However, according to a union source, it is unclear whether the entire plan has enough votes to pass the Senate. Some Republican senators, including Sens. Dan Kapanke and Dale Schultz, are historically supporters of collective bargaining rights, as both were original sponsors of legislation that gave organizing rights to UW faculty and staff.
In addition, Republicans with large numbers of public workers in their districts, such as prison guards, fear the backlash that could come from cutting their benefits too much.
Even the Senate leader, Scott Fitzgerald, is expressing skepticism of such a bold plan. Although Fitzgerald himself is in a reliably Republican district, he knows that making Wisconsin the poster child of anti-union laws could awaken a fierce campaign opponent that will threaten his majority in coming cycles. By proposing a more modest reform Fitzgerald could keep Wisconsin under the radar of national labor unions.
Here are the Republicans who are rumored to be on the fence:
Dan Kapanke
Luther Olsen
Randy Hopper
Scott Fitzgerald
Dale Schultz
Van Wanggaard
Mike Ellis
