Highlights: When Merriam-Webster’s Not Enough: Maine Governor OKs Study to Define “Employee”; Mid-Michigan lawmakers critical of health care legislation; NJ: Democrats' support of N.J. employee pension reform has unions threatening payback at the ballot box and NJ: Gov. Christie calls pension overhaul his 'biggest governmental victory' in exclusive interview; CT: Anger, distrust, fear drive 'no' votes on union concessions; PA State worker unions land enviable contracts...; WI Collective Bargaining Changes go into Effect Wednesday; full Scrooge Alert at http://dailyscroogealert.blogspot.com/

National

More People Die on the Job than Die in the War

New Jersey

NJ: Gov. Christie calls pension overhaul his 'biggest governmental victory' in exclusive interview
With his "biggest governmental victory" in the books, Gov. Chris Christie plans to fight the Democrats on their call for a millionaires tax, get the budget passed this week with no major disruptions, then turn to overhauling the education system.

NJ: Democrats' support of N.J. employee pension reform has unions threatening payback at the ballot box
It felt like a bad breakup, complete with angry tirades and tearful pleading. New Jersey Democrats have spent years locked arm-in-arm with unions, but the historical alliance frayed last week as the Democrats who control the Legislature pushed through a plan to cut public worker benefits.

Pennsylvania

MADONNA: Corbett 'reluctant to take the unions on'...

State worker unions land enviable contracts...

Senate Republicans expected to unveil budget plan today...

Faculty union leader condemns deeper cut in state funding for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education

The faculty union leader at the 14 state universities expressed disappointment over the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education's proposed state funding being cut by $15 million more than was anticipated.

Pennsylvania laws pitting public schools against private

Gov. Tom Corbett has laid out a vision for public education in Pennsylvania in which schools compete to offer students the best chance at success.

Michigan

Mid-Michigan lawmakers critical of health care legislation

Three mid-Michigan lawmakers are opposed to Republican legislation that would end retiree health care insurance for a majority of state workers.

Ohio

Dems Say SB 5 Energizing Base
Wheeling News Register
By JOSELYN KING - Political Writer , The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register The fight over collective bargaining rights in Ohio is energizing the Democratic Party's base as the 2012 elections approach, party leaders believe. ...

INSIDE SENATE BILL 5: How Stark's public workers would be affected
Canton Repository
Senate Bill 5, which essentially rewrites Ohio's collective bargaining law for the first time in 28 years, would limit how much government, school districts and other public employers could spend on employee health insurance and retirement and require ...

Wisconsin

Governor signs budget at Ashwaubenon manufacturer
Chippewa Herald
... one that exempted emergency medical service providers from the collective bargaining law, another that killed a bid to bring back for-profit bail bondsmen and a third that ended an attempt to change the way Wisconsin taxes certain tobacco products. ...

Collective Bargaining Changes go into Effect Wednesday
WHBL Sheboygan
That's the day Wisconsin's new limits on public union bargaining take effect. About half the state's teachers' unions will feel the immediate impact, along with around four-thousand local government employees and at least 22-thousand state workers. ...

Milwaukee County workers' union tries to push new contract before CBL takes effect
Today's TMJ4
By Tom Murray with Jay Sorgi MILWAUKEE - Just two days before the new Wisconsin collective bargaining law is set to take effect, members of Milwaukee County's largest union are trying to get a new contract passed. The AFSCME is hoping the Milwaukee ...

Maine

When Merriam-Webster’s Not Enough: Maine Governor OKs Study to Define “Employee”

New Hampshire

Let's stop misinformation about Right to Work
Seacoastonline.com
Right To Work will help the New Hampshire economy. False. There are lots of useless statistics on this subject, but the true comparison is that between New Hampshire's economy and those of the Right To Work states. New Hampshire is doing better than ...

Coalition to wage people's veto campaign to revive Election Day voter registration law

Critics of the Legislature's recent decision to end Election Day voter registration in Maine said Thursday a broad coalition is building to quickly collect the 57,000-plus signatures needed to put the issue in front of voters this November.

Connecticut

CT: Anger, distrust, fear drive 'no' votes on union concessions
UConn Health Center nurse Diane Bergen voted "no" because she feared an erosion of retirement benefits and because she distrusted the process. Mike Alewitz, an associate professor at Central Connecticut State University, voted "no" because he thinks the governor should raise taxes on the rich instead of trying to wring concessions from state employees.

Nebraska

Child welfare reform evaluation committee learn about challenges to privatization

Many challenges exist for states that privatize child welfare, two officials from the National Conference of State Legislatures told Nebraska state senators Thursday.

Taken From Seacoastonline.com:

Let's stop misinformation about Right to Work

There is a lot of misinformation being spread about Right To Work; some of it by those not knowing any better and some by cynical idealogues who know what they are saying is untrue:

Workers (according to RTW supporters) are forced to join a union to get or keep their jobs. False.

This practice (also known as the "Closed Shop") was outlawed by the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. It has been the law of the land for more than 60 years. Anyone who says workers are forced to join a union to get or keep a job is either misinformed or lying.

Right To Work will help the New Hampshire economy. False.

There are lots of useless statistics on this subject, but the true comparison is that between New Hampshire's economy and those of the Right To Work states. New Hampshire is doing better than almost all the RTW states in almost every category: unemployment rate, average income, median income, job growth. There is no evidence that Right to Work will bring jobs to the state or improve its economy.

Right To Work is about protecting workers rights. False.

RTW was designed to undermine workers and unions. The National RTW Committee, located in Fairfax, Va., was founded in 1955 by a group of southern businessmen with the express purpose of destroying unions. It is supported by the super-rich and large corporations who have zero interest in workers rights or, for that matter, the state of New Hampshire.

Right To Work is funded by outside interests who have put together a strong misinformation campaign that many have bought into. RTW is not about workers' rights, freedom of choice, or a better economy. It's purpose is to lower the power of workers in the workplace, union and non-union alike. Year after year, RTW was brought up in the N.H. Legislature, funded out of Fairfax, Va. Year after year, this out-of-state-funded legislation was defeated, under both Republican and Democratic majorities, until this year.

I urge you to contact your state legislators immediately (visit www.nh.gov) to voice your opposition to Right to Work and urge them to uphold the governor's veto.

Michael Frandzel

Portsmouth

Highlights: WI: Wisconsin's union law to take effect following Supreme Court ruling; Bill reducing unemployment benefits signed by Gov. Scott; 1,500 Philly teacher layoffs remain on hold...; US: GOP governors push back against Obama on federal Medicaid rules; NJ: Against own party's wishes, Sweeney pushes overhaul to pension system for N.J. public employees; Public schools anxious over possible government shutdown; Negotiations continue on two fronts to save Katahdin mills; Legislature responds to unions' complaint; full Scrooge Alert at http://dailyscroogealert.blogspot.com/

National

US: GOP governors push back against Obama on federal Medicaid rules
Faced with severe budget problems, Republican governors are escalating their fight against federal rules requiring states to maintain current levels of health-care coverage for the poor and disabled.

Wisconsin

Demonstrators protest state budget cuts
Washington Post
John Hart / AP People carry signs outside the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton to ... The bill would strip public employees of collective bargaining rights. ...

Updated: Wisconsin Supreme Court Reverses Lower Court; Allows Anti-Union Law To Take Effect

WI: Wisconsin's union law to take effect following Supreme Court ruling
The Wisconsin Supreme Court handed Republican Gov. Scott Walker a major victory on Tuesday, ruling that a divisive union law could take effect that takes away most collective bargaining powers from public employees.

Ohio

Union President Steve Loomis says Ohio's new labor law effectively eliminates ...
PolitiFact
Safety forces were given binding arbitration as part of Ohio's 1983 collective-bargaining law for public employees. In what was considered a trade-off, that law banned strikes by police and firefighters. In an interview, Senate President Tom Niehaus ...

Pennsylvania

1,500 Philly teacher layoffs remain on hold...

Bill: use student performance to evaluate teachers...

Florida

Bill reducing unemployment benefits signed by Gov. Scott

Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed a bill that will cut unemployment benefits to as few as 12 weeks for Florida residents, when the state unemployment rate falls to 5 percent or lower. Florida's rate in April was 10.8 percent.

Maine

Negotiations continue on two fronts to save Katahdin mills

Investors who recently bought a Baileyville mill were negotiating Tuesday to purchase two Katahdin region paper mills even as lawmakers and LePage administration officials scrambled to win support for a bill deemed critical to the potential sale.

Minnesota

Public schools anxious over possible government shutdown

School employees are not state workers, but their salaries and other school expenses rely on money that districts get from the state.

Minn. GOP lawmaker raises Hitler, Castro in email

The leader of a Minnesota state employee union is taking a Republican state lawmaker to task for an email to a constituent in which he compares union politics to Fidel Castro and Adolf Hitler.

Montana

Legislature responds to unions' complaint

An unfair-labor-practice complaint filed against the 2011 Legislature for rejecting negotiated pay raises for state employees is without merit and should be dismissed, a legislative attorney said Wednesday.

New Jersey

'Right-to-work' not right for NJ
Gloucester County Times - NJ.com
May I suggest that she and the rest of the Assembly find a way through collective bargaining to correct what she perceives to be wrong with the current situation. As far as I am concerned, her solution is a matter of throwing out the baby with the bath ...

NJ: Against own party's wishes, Sweeney pushes overhaul to pension system for N.J. public employees
Despite a rising chorus of opposition from fellow Democrats, the Senate president and Assembly speaker pressed forward Tuesday to overhaul health and pension benefits for the state's 500,000 public employees.

Highlights: Wisconsin Republicans vow to add collective bargaining to budget bill Tuesday; Ohio House Democrats propose revival of Depression-era program to create jobs; PA Teachers vent over pink slips; Maine Senate rejects bill requiring photo ID to vote; Nevada Fends off Prevailing Wage Attack

National

Week-long series on Stateline.org highlighting the dramatic changes being implemented by Republican-controlled legislatures across the U.S.

Monday’s story: “The impact of one-party rule”, Republicans pass sweeping state agenda

Tuesday’s story: The year school budget cuts went straight to the classroom

Wisconsin

Massive Protest Expected in the Face of Wisconsin’s “Extraordinary Session”

BREAKING: Walkerville Marches to Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Building to Protest Mining Bill

Wisconsin Republicans vow to add collective bargaining to budget bill Tuesday
Isthmus Daily Page
Unless the Wisconsin Supreme Court gets in the spirit and makes a definitive ruling that affirms sweeping changes to collective bargaining by Tuesday afternoon, legislative Republicans intend to introduce this as a budget amendment

Wis. GOP poised to add bargaining limits
UPI.com
MADISON, Wis., June 14 (UPI) -- Wisconsin GOP lawmakers will add collective-bargaining limits to the state budget if the state Supreme Court doesn't rule Tuesday, the Assembly speaker says. "If need be, we are going to have to pass collective ...

Ohio

Ohio House Democrats propose revival of Depression-era program to create jobs

A pair of Cleveland-area lawmakers want to revive a Depression-era jobs program in Ohio to create about 5,000 jobs.

Two House Dems propose $400M public works jobs' plan

Two Democratic lawmakers - Reps. Mike Foley of Cleveland and Nickie Antonio of Lakewood - on Monday unveiled proposed legislation that calls for spending $400 million over two years to put 5,000 Ohioans to work on public works projects in all 88 counties.

Ohio GOP Sen. Defends Budget That Favors The Rich: Wealthy 'Suffer Along With ...
Think Progress
John Kasich (R-OH) at the helm, the Ohio GOP is successfully kneecapping the legs of Ohio's middle class. The party's first six months in power brought collective bargaining rights, the minimum wage, the prevailing wage, and education under the knife ...

Pennsylvania

Teachers vent over pink slips | Philadelphia Daily News | 2011-06-14
Philadelphia Daily News
The union's lawsuit alleged that the district violated terms of the collective-bargaining agreement when it exempted about 200 Promise Academy teachers from widespread teacher layoffs. Deputy Superintendent Leroy Nunery, who sat in for Schools ...

Union head: Corbett style better, but still a problem...

Maine

Senate rejects bill requiring photo ID to vote

Maine senators on Monday, in a reversal of a House vote last week, rejected a bill that sought to require voters to show photo identification on Election Day.

On same-day voting, GOP's playbook was pure politics
Kennebec Journal
On workers' issues such as collective bargaining, employee pensions and even the labor mural, there was an element of sticking

New Hampshire

Stop using threats for political agendas
Hampton Union
John Lynch's veto of House Bill 474, the state's Right to Work Act. Those who support the governor's veto position, which historically has also been the Republican position of rejecting this specific anti-worker legislation, are under fire.

At least we know what they stand for
Nashua Telegraph
... right-to-work bill, an assault on women's right to choose with a parental notification bill that could ultimately lead to less parental notification, and an assault on the environment by repealing New Hampshire's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. ...

Big stakes for small businesses - NH.com
NH.com > A New Hampshire focus point for what-to-do, where-to-eat and where-to- stay! ... fair share fees to cover the cost of union collective bargaining. ...

Nevada

Nevada Fends off Prevailing Wage Attack

South Carolina

SC: Boeing labor battle is poised to go before judge
Barring a last-minute settlement, lawyers for the National Labor Relations Board will begin arguing before a Seattle judge on Tuesday that Boeing broke the law by building a new, nonunion production line in South Carolina instead of expanding its unionized operations in Washington State.