Hey gang! Let's play Kick Our Neighbors When They're Down!

My mom sent me a Wisconsin- and union-bashing forwarded email this morning. It was sent to her by a friend who is a public teacher in Chicago. She asked me to help her reply.

Here's how it went.

--- On Wed, 9/21/11, x wrote:

Wisconsin Revisited

Remember the violent demonstrations over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker doing away with the collective bargaining for teachers unions? The results are in. Some school districts went from a $400,000 deficit to a $1,500,000 surplus as a result. Why?

It seems that the insurance company that provided all the so-called "benefits" to the teachers was an insurance company owned and operated by the teacher's union! Since it was guaranteed to get the insurance business from the teachers and the State had to pay for it, not the teachers, it was increasing the annual costs every single year to become the most expensive insurance company in the state. At the same time, the insurance company was donating millions and millions of dollars to their favorite democrat politicians, who, when they got elected, guaranteed to keep funding the union's outrageous costs. In other words, the insurance company was a "pass through" for Wisconsin taxpayer money directly to the democrat politicians!

Nice racket, and this is the racket that is going on in every single State that allows collective bargaining. No wonder the States are taking it away.

Now that the State of Wisconsin is free to put the insurance contract out for bid, lo and behold: it has saved so much money that it has turned deficits into surplus amounts! As a result, none of the teachers had to be laid off, everyone got a raise, etc., etc; and the taxpayers of Wisconsin don't have to pay more taxes to fund the union's political ambitions.

If you weren't aware of the reasons why Governor Walker was fighting to take away collective bargaining, this gives you an idea of the problem!

Here is the article:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/07/wisconsin-schools-buck-union-cut-health-costs

--

My reply:

Give me a break.

First off, the protests against Walker in Wisconsin were NEVER violent. This is just more of the same slandering of a peaceful people's movement standing up against oppression in the only way they can. This sort to rhetoric was used by Walker's office against unions, with frequent cartoonish and entirely unfounded mentions of Wisconsin "union thugs." As to the person who forwarded the email - feel free to share an example of violence within the Wisconsin protest. Just one example? Anyone? Right - there are none.

While the actions taken against the public workers of Wisconsin - the cutting of their rights to bargain collectively and to have pensions in an effort to make more profits for the already-rich in the state - are aptly framed as violent toward workers, there was never, ever violence from the protests or from the workers involved in them. The protests were not violent. This is a blatant lie and a cheap blow that clearly shows this anonymous and un-substantiated email's intent - to misrepresent what was and is going on in Wisconsin, and to skew people's ideas of the urgent yet peaceful effort to stop the erosion of American's rights. This comment, alone, is outrageous.

Beyond this, though, WEA Trust - the health care company - is a "trust" under federal labor law and is not "owned" by the union. It is a purchasing group - a health insurance pool - overseen by school districts, not unions. In response to February charges by Walker just like those in this email calling WEA Trust the "union-run health insurance plan" and saying that unions benefit from kickbacks, they write:

* WEA Trust is an independent, not-for-profit insurance company that is regulated and overseen by the State of Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. WEA Trust is paid by school districts for services just like electric, gas, construction, or repair companies that work with Wisconsin public schools. Not only would it be unethical for the WEA Trust to transfer any funds to union leadership for political purposes, it would be illegal.

And contrary to what the email says here,:

"Now that the State of Wisconsin is free to put the insurance contract out for bid, lo and behold: it has saved so much money that it has turned deficits into surplus amounts!"

just as it was before Walker outlawed collective bargaining, the state continues insuring some Wisconsin teachers through WEA Trust, and some through other insurance companies.

And of course the cutting of collective bargaining led to more money for the state. No one ever said it wouldn't. When collective bargaining was cut, teachers and other public workers had to pay out of their pocket to cover health insurance costs their employer (the state) was no longer willing to help with. This has led to more money being saved by the state as they stick it to the workers. It also has resulted in huge numbers of veteran teachers leaving the profession at the start of this year.

And, no.

"As a result, none of the teachers had to be laid off, everyone got a raise, etc., etc;"

No. Teacher pay remains stagnant in Wisconsin, but it is actually much lower considering the significant new contributions teachers need to give to their benefits and pensions. "Everyone" most certainly did not "get a raise," as this insane email states. That is, of course, unless you are talking about those in Walker's inner circles.

But, so what? You want to get rid of unions? Well then, you must not care much for your kids. Up until last winter when Walker devastated Wisconsin educational system, there were only five states that outlawed collective bargaining for teachers - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia. Four out of these five states have repeated ranked in the bottom quintile on student ACT/SAT test scores. Only one - Virginia - isn't bottom of the barrel, but it is not anywhere near the top, either. Is this the education we want that for our children? For our grandchildren? For America?

Furthermore, you must not care much for yourself or your spouse or your neighbors. Unions brought us the weekend, the 8-hour work day, and so much more which is considered "fair treatment in the workplace." Emails like this one have a long history of being scribed by corporate-funded (or "astroturf") efforts which appear to be "of the people," but are not, and which lie and make up information to malign efforts challenging their power. Sounds convincing, but just look up ANY of the information they are presenting. It is clearly filled with erroneous statements without any backing and outright lies.

Perhaps the most troubling thing from all of this, though, is that studies show that even a small amount of doubt will keep people from questioning the status quo and from supporting a stance. That's what this email is about - lessening people's support of, what is now, other people's rights, but something that will soon impact us all as people trying to get by in America. The fact that it is being forwarded is really mind-blowing. Why working people would blindly trust the outrageous lies made on an email like this, and side with the profit-driven entities trying to take (and succeeding in taking) away Americans' rights over their hard-working neighbors is beyond me. It's heartbreaking, really.

This email has been passed around for a few months now, and is posted on conservative blogs, often citing that "we could sure use a Ronald Regan right now". That tells a lot too. Regan cut the rights of poor and working Americans more than any other president in recent history. He took away public resources and allowed friends and colleagues to privatize them and profit, weakening social supports and consolidating state power in corporations like never before,. He instituted countless tax loopholes for his rich cronies, and forced a significant widening between the rich and the poor in American. Whoever wrote this is not interested in "we, the people." They are clearly interested in profits, not in people.