Governernor Scott Walker of Wisconsin has released his fourth report in a multi-part series entitled "Collective Bargaining is a Fiscal Issue," a theme which Americans for Tax Reform and the Alliance for Worker Freedom have both covered extensively in recent weeks. In his reports, Gov. Walker provides a laundry list of needless taxpayer-funded benefits and projects brought about by public-sector collective bargaining. Those looking to save Wisconsin from fiscal ruin would do well to arm themselves with some of these astonishing facts:
- Only three years ago, the Milwaukee school district cut Viagra from its health-benefit plan for teachers: the move saved $786,000 a year. The Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association went to court over the matter.
- The Madison Emeritus Program doles out almost $10,000 to participating public school teachers. Required days of work? Zero.
- Certain Wisconsin employees, due to the nature of their work, must carry a pager while off duty. For this, they get payed for an extra 5 hours of work a week. This averages out to 6,000 dollars a year for carrying a small square of plastic.
- A county employee union filed a greivance against Racine County for using prison inmates to mow grassy public areas as a cost cutting measure.
- Megan Sampson was named "outstanding first-year teacher" by the Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English. She was promptly fired because her union had rejected a taxdollar-saving health care agreement, and layoffs are based on seniority, not quality of work.