# Wisconsin GOP passes union-stripping bill **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 10, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111 "2011-03-10T00:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/201 "2011-03-10T18:39:09Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > If you had any interest in actually learning something, you’d do what I do: hang out on a board that has a majority opposed to your viewpoint. I’d love to find one. Can you suggest one that will not throw me out on my ear if I dare to suggest that perhaps Obama may not have been born in Kenya, or that it’s just possible that Palin’s musings on geopolitics may not be the smartest stuff, or if I allude to my opinion that publicly funded healthcare is not the same as communism? Most right leaning boards I have seen seem to take a pretty dim view of diverse opinions. You actually are treated rather well here. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/202 "2011-03-10T18:41:31Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#): > > You’re serious? You think you’d have these benefits if the unions hadn’t been fighting long before any of them became options. > > [Sixteen Tons - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteen_Tons) > > I guess they don’t teach history in school anymore. Please, educate me. How many of those 15 benefits I listed were fought for by unions before companies started offering them? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/203 "2011-03-10T18:46:27Z")
…Bricker, why do you not support the right of workers to collectively negotiate if they so wish? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/204 "2011-03-10T18:49:51Z")
So there state becomes a joke and the pubs are exposed as the lying weasels they are. I think it’s a good thing. And, I think it will ensure the dems take this state next election. So hey, weasels, keep up the good work! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/205 "2011-03-10T18:49:54Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …Bricker, why do you not support the right of workers to collectively negotiate if they so wish? If he starts repeating “because it goes against the public interest”, we will know that he has been completely taken over by **superslug** and his band of witty followers. ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/206 "2011-03-10T18:50:09Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Please, educate me. > > How many of those 15 benefits I listed were fought for by unions before companies started offering them? If unions hadn’t broken the company store, we’d have none of them. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/207 "2011-03-10T18:55:38Z")
I think unions should be like abortions: safe, legal, and rare. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/208 "2011-03-10T18:58:47Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#): > > If unions hadn’t broken the company store, we’d have none of them. Bingo! If you have any benefits where you work, it’s because some union guy got his skull busted years ago fighting for them. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/209 "2011-03-10T19:02:41Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I hope it comes with a cape. Jesus Christ, considering some of the assholes on the board, I hope it comes with a straitjacket. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/210 "2011-03-10T19:06:38Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yes, but this bill doesn’t eliminate all collective bargaining – just state government workers’ collective bargaining. The maleficent employer you’re worried about here is the state government itself. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but the state government is run by Republicans. And 21st century Republicans want to privatize schools. Drown it in the bathwater, sound familiar? A conservative government can do things a business wouldn’t because of ideology. The Tea-Party faction that is running the Republicans today simply don’t believe in public anything. They want schools to fail so they can be privatized. It doesn’t matter that things would be worse, they refuse to accept reality. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/211 "2011-03-10T19:11:47Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > How sexist!! I’m always amazed at assholes like you. You thnk that jeering at the concept of sexism—which your rich white Republican ass never has to experience----is so witty and winning. Hurr, hurr, hurr, is that the best you can do? Tit jokes and sniggering at sexism? It just makes the dimensions of your vileness apparent. Tell me, do you go around to black people and sneer, “That’s _racist!_”? Reminds me of the time Rush Limbaugh, like the bully he is, thought he was scoring a point off Michael J. Fox, by ‘imitating’ what he thought was Fox’s fakery during the stem cell debates. And to head off the inevitable Bricker lies and bullshit, I’m going to point out: 1. That your tactics of jeering at what you don’t have to experience are reprehensible; 2. that they bear more than a slight resemblance to the contempt that Rush Limbaugh showed when he ‘imitated’ Michael J. Fox’s disability, which he felt was faked; 3. and that by drawing a line between the two I am pointing out that not only do you and Limbaugh share the same tactic, you share the same viewpoint and party, and that your tactics are vile. And so are you. But I guess it must be stressful defending murderers and rapists while attacking poor black people whose only crime is to wish to vote without your express approval. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/212 "2011-03-10T19:14:41Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > …the point is moot. We have solid accusations to advance here, I see no reason to include anything remotely shaky. Now wait just a dang minute, bub! We’ll have no insurgence in the liberal echo chamber. _You will be assimilated!_ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/213 "2011-03-10T19:14:48Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Did I miss your reply to my offer of a wager? You might try looking for it in the thread in which you actually posted the offer. For convenience’s sake, I’ll repeat it here. I don’t gamble. Hell, I don’t even play the lottery. That doesn’t mean my confidence in my prediction is weak. It just means that I don’t feel the need to play testosterone-laden one-upmanship games over it. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/214 "2011-03-10T19:16:19Z")
> [@margin](#): > > I’m always amazed at assholes like you. You thnk that jeering at the concept of sexism—which your rich white Republican ass While I’m mostly on your side in the ideological debate here, you should be informed that **Bricker** isn’t white. He’s Hispanic. ---
**Author:** ![Sully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@Sully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sully)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/215 "2011-03-10T19:17:36Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Sure. > > Stock options > Flexible scheduling > Employee life insurance > Dental > Vision > Employee discounts > Education reimbursement > “Personal” days > Mass transit reimbursement > Casual Friday > Parental leave more than the law requires > Same-sex-partner benefits > Free or subsidised company cafeteria > Employee assistance programs > On-site massages and dry-cleaning pickup > Adoption assistance > > Some of those are more common than others, but I’ve had all of them at various places I’ve worked. > > The history of both paid vacations and employee retirement benefits are complicated, but certainly can’t be reduced to “nobody had them, and then the unions/laws stepped in and made them common” Wow, how very generous. Something akin to someone giving you a quarter as they are stealing your wallet. \*Yes, we know you are now working 60 hours a week so we can keep laying people off and you won’t say shit because we will then kick your ass to the curb, but hey, we have free coffee… \* ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/216 "2011-03-10T19:17:51Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …Bricker, why do you not support the right of workers to collectively negotiate if they so wish? Because: > [@](#): > > In 2010, Megan Sampson was named an Outstanding First Year Teacher in Wisconsin. A week later, she got a layoff notice from the Milwaukee Public Schools. Why would one of the best new teachers in the state be one of the first let go? Because her collective-bargaining contract requires staffing decisions to be made based on seniority. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/217 "2011-03-10T19:21:32Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You might try looking for it in the thread in which you actually posted the offer. For convenience’s sake, I’ll repeat it here. > > I don’t gamble. Hell, I don’t even play the lottery. That doesn’t mean my confidence in my prediction is weak. It just means that I don’t feel the need to play testosterone-laden one-upmanship games over it. So the consequence of being wrong for you is… ? See, I mention this because I once started a thread reminding a poster of how he predicted that, if Virginia amended its constitution to forbid same-sex marriage, domestic violence victims would suffer – the change would supposedly forbid the state from prosecuting domestic violence claims against unmarried but cohabitating partners. he didn’t bet on his claim either, but stridently insisted he was right. Years went by, and I started a thread pointing out that his confident prediction was wrong. And what do you suppose the result was? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/218 "2011-03-10T19:22:52Z")
> [@margin](#): > > I’m always amazed at assholes like you. You thnk that jeering at the concept of sexism—which your rich white Republican ass never has to experience----is so witty and winning. How racist! I’m Hispanic, genius. I grew up in poverty. My dad came here from El Salvador with nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/219 "2011-03-10T19:22:55Z")
Someone on the internet ignored you? Oh the humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Sully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@Sully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sully)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111/220 "2011-03-10T19:23:16Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Because: Nice, using Scott Walker’s speech. You must be a huge fan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-gop-passes-union-stripping-bill/574111.md?page=12)