David Michael Miller
When Anthony Reeves started his job as a statistician for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in 2001, his workplace was a different place than it is today.
He had about 30 co-workers, and there was a real sense of collegiality, he says. But the department has since dwindled to around 10, with about half departing within the last five years. Perhaps more significantly, the mood has changed.
“Morale is much lower,” Reeves says. “People are less open, and the collegiality that you need to train new people is just not there. I would not want to be somebody who’s coming on board now.”
Reeves attributes much of the shift to Act 10, which restricted the collective bargaining rights of most public employees. That was followed this year with an overhaul of Wisconsin’s 111-year-old civil service system, effective July 1. As those changes are rolled out in phases over the summer, Reeves fears things will only get worse.
“Everybody’s scared,” he says.
Supporters of the civil service overhaul — which includes replacing the civil service exam with a resume-based hiring system and making it easier to hire, fire and discipline state employees — say it will make the system more modern and efficient. But opponents fear the changes will diminish worker protections and usher in corruption and political cronyism.
A group of activists, including many union representatives, formed the Wisconsin Coalition to Save Civil Service in response to the legislation. And even now that the new rules are being implemented, the group is not giving up its fight to restore worker protections.
“You can’t kill an idea,” says Gary Mitchell, a retired state employee and international vice president of AFSCME. “As long as there’s the idea that people are interested in having the best government, the best services, we’re going to keep fighting.”
Union officials have launched an online resource for state employees to report and monitor how the civil service changes are being implemented. The confidential “Ask-a-Steward” tool allows workers to submit questions and concerns, and seek advice about workplace issues. Union representatives will monitor the site and try to respond within 24 hours.
Bill Franks, a retired state employee and longtime union activist, says workers should be on the lookout for things like co-workers being disciplined, unqualified people being hired, accelerated retirements or unfilled positions. Changes in quality of public service, decline in regulatory function or the shifting of permanent jobs to contractors should also be noted.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to fathom what might be some of the results and consequences,” Franks says. “We’ve [already] heard about bullying activities, snitch activities, forms of intimidation.”
The goal of the online tool is to help union activists work collaboratively to support state workers. If an issue is serious enough, the unions will help workers connect with legal representation.
“The union has always been the place where you could have a confidential discussion with a steward,” Mitchell says. “Now we’re trying to offer a place that’s more 21st century.”
Days before the new law went into effect, union activists got together to hold a New Orleans jazz-style “funeral” for civil service, held on the 111th anniversary of when the original protections were put in place. But activists say it’s not dead yet — it’s just in a coma.
“Many of us remember the system as it exists,” Mitchell says, “and as long as that memory is still out there, it’s not dead.”
