Those Wisconsin Democratic senators who fled the political storm in their state are welcome in Washington if they need a place to hide out.
“We will protect them, we will safeguard them…and we will support their fight for freedom and justice,” Carol Dotlich, president of the Washington Federation of State Employees declared in Monday’s rally.
Dotlich said union members are offering sanctuary to the 14 senators who departed days ago to block action on a bill from Republican Gov. Scott Walker to eliminate collective bargaining for most public employee unions.
Walker’s proposal bars collective bargaining for issues beyond wages and limits pay hikes to a certain level without voter approval. Other provisions include requiring unions to hold annual votes on whether they should remain in existence.
Public employee unions oppose those elements. However, they have agreed to other aspects of the bill including pay a greater share of their pension costs and health care premiums.
In Democrats’ absence, Senate Republicans proceeded today to vote on non-budget bills.
Meanwhile, WFSE might need to extend its offer to Democratic lawmakers in the Indiana House of Representatives. According to the New York Times, the minority Democrats didin’t show up today in order to stall efforts of the majority Republicans to act on bills targeting workers.
And Ohio’s minority Democrats could be the next ones to go AWOL. Right now, the state Senate in Ohio is considering its own Wisconsin-like bill to eliminate collective bargaining rights for state employees.
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