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Those Wisconsin unions

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/those-wisconsin-unions

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Those Wisconsin unions - http://distributedresearch.net/blog...

Tuesday

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February 22 2011, 10:25am | Comments »

I posted to distributedresearch.net

Those Wisconsin unions

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/those-wisconsin-unions

Wisconsin Unions battle against the state by occupying the Capitol building in Wisconsin. Links via Mark Dilley: Will labor strife in Wisconsin cascade across the country?

act.credoaction.com/campaign/we_support_wisconsin koch-brothers-behind-wisconsin-effort-to-kill-public-unions http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/02/18/koch-brothers-behind-wisconsin-effort-to-kill-public-unions/ 70,000 protest in Madison, Wisconsin Mass protests and strikes in Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Pakistan supports wisconsin Egypt supports wisconsin

This article titled “Those Wisconsin unions” was written by Michael Tomasky, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 21st February 2011 13.29 UTC Today is a holiday here in the states, Presidents’ Day, so I’m basically taking the day off and reading the diaries of the underappreciated Franklin Pierce. But I thought that I should check in quickly on the continuing Wisconsin situation. If you saw Krugman today, you saw the liberal case laid out: In this situation, it makes sense to call for shared sacrifice, including monetary concessions from state workers. And union leaders have signaled that they are, in fact, willing to make such concessions. But Mr. Walker isn’t interested in making a deal. Partly that’s because he doesn’t want to share the sacrifice: even as he proclaims that Wisconsin faces a terrible fiscal crisis, he has been pushing through tax cuts that make the deficit worse. Mainly, however, he has made it clear that rather than bargaining with workers, he wants to end workers’ ability to bargain. The bill that has inspired the demonstrations would strip away collective bargaining rights for many of the state’s workers, in effect busting public-employee unions. Tellingly, some workers — namely, those who tend to be Republican-leaning — are exempted from the ban; it’s as if Mr. Walker were flaunting the political nature of his actions. Why bust the unions? As I said, it has nothing to do with helping Wisconsin deal with its current fiscal crisis. Nor is it likely to help the state’s budget prospects even in the long run: contrary to what you may have heard, public-sector workers in Wisconsin and elsewhere are paid somewhat less than private-sector workers with comparable qualifications, so there’s not much room for further pay squeezes. So it’s not about the budget; it’s about the power.

I always find it a little frustrating when someone writes a column like that and doesn’t include any numbers so the reader can varify, so I went looking for some. According to the economist Menzie David Chinn at the University of Wisconsin, yes, state and local employees in the state are somewhat undercompensated compared to their private-sector counterparts. First of all, here’s a chart, which reflects national averages not Wisconsin ones but is interesting anyway, comparing public- and private-sector workers’ wages (I assume whoever made this chart means wages specifically, which refers to money compensation only and not benefits). It shows that at every level of education except “less than high school,” private-sector employees out-earn public-sector ones. The difference gets more stark as you go up the education ladder, as you might expect. However, the “all” category on this chart shows that the sectors are almost exactly even on wages, which is explained I suppose by the large number of less-than-high-school educated people who are in public-sector unions. Another chart compares total compensation, including benefits, and the story is basically the same. Now to Wisconsin itself. Chinn does a regression analysis finding, he says, that public-sector workers are less-well compensated than private counterparts to the tune of 4.8%. Presumably, given the above, the workers with college degrees are in the 8 or even 10% range, higher in some cases. That’s not chopped liver. So they make less money. But the benefits issue is the public-sector unions’ Achilles heel. Politifact, which I trusted when it exposed Sarah Palin’s absurd lies (aha! So I worked in a mention) so I might as well also trust today, looked into Governor Scott Walker’s claim that “most state employees could pay twice as much toward their health care premiums and it would still be half the national average.” It found the claim to be true. You can read all the facts in the preceding link, but basically, private-sector employees pay 25-30% of the cost of their healthcare premiums in the US, and Wisconsin public employees generally pay just 6%. The understanding has long been that public-sector employees make less, so they should have better benefits. There’s some logic to that. But it seems that the wage differential against them isn’t as great as the benefits differential working for them. Krugman alludes to Wisconsin union leaders saying they were willing to make concessions. I know not what of he speaks, but it makes political and moral sense to me for the state’s union leaders to say okay, our people will contribute more to their healthcare packages and put a non-fake number on the table. That would give them the place of prominence on the moral high ground. And it would expose Walker’s one-sidedness for what it is. If he were trying to bargain an outcome in good faith, that would be one thing. But he’s not. He’s decreasing the state’s take from corporations by nearly 30% and not asking sacrifice of anyone at the top of the pyramid while bullying the people who mop the floors in the university’s buildings. Put me down on the side of the floor moppers. If public-sector unions are busted in the US, combined with the Citizens United decision, corporate influence on our politics would double, triple, who knows. But I have to say that I can see why a ,000-a-year private-sector worker with two kids who’s paying 30% toward their healthcare coverage would be a upset at the deal the public-sector workers have. Democrats and liberals should fix this imbalance before those on the right “fix it” for them.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogThose Wisconsin unions

Related posts:UK Uncut protesters target Barclays over tax avoidance Acas booklet on flexible working Can Countries go Bankrupt?

February 22 2011, 10:25am | Comments »

I posted to distributedresearch.net

Those Wisconsin unions

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/those-wisconsin-unions

Wisconsin Unions battle against the state by occupying the Capitol building in Wisconsin. Links via Mark Dilley: Will labor strife in Wisconsin cascade across the country?

act.credoaction.com/campaign/we_support_wisconsin koch-brothers-behind-wisconsin-effort-to-kill-public-unions http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/02/18/koch-brothers-behind-wisconsin-effort-to-kill-public-unions/ 70,000 protest in Madison, Wisconsin Mass protests and strikes in Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Pakistan supports wisconsin Egypt supports wisconsin

This article titled “Those Wisconsin unions” was written by Michael Tomasky, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 21st February 2011 13.29 UTC Today is a holiday here in the states, Presidents’ Day, so I’m basically taking the day off and reading the diaries of the underappreciated Franklin Pierce. But I thought that I should check in quickly on the continuing Wisconsin situation. If you saw Krugman today, you saw the liberal case laid out: In this situation, it makes sense to call for shared sacrifice, including monetary concessions from state workers. And union leaders have signaled that they are, in fact, willing to make such concessions. But Mr. Walker isn’t interested in making a deal. Partly that’s because he doesn’t want to share the sacrifice: even as he proclaims that Wisconsin faces a terrible fiscal crisis, he has been pushing through tax cuts that make the deficit worse. Mainly, however, he has made it clear that rather than bargaining with workers, he wants to end workers’ ability to bargain. The bill that has inspired the demonstrations would strip away collective bargaining rights for many of the state’s workers, in effect busting public-employee unions. Tellingly, some workers — namely, those who tend to be Republican-leaning — are exempted from the ban; it’s as if Mr. Walker were flaunting the political nature of his actions. Why bust the unions? As I said, it has nothing to do with helping Wisconsin deal with its current fiscal crisis. Nor is it likely to help the state’s budget prospects even in the long run: contrary to what you may have heard, public-sector workers in Wisconsin and elsewhere are paid somewhat less than private-sector workers with comparable qualifications, so there’s not much room for further pay squeezes. So it’s not about the budget; it’s about the power.

I always find it a little frustrating when someone writes a column like that and doesn’t include any numbers so the reader can varify, so I went looking for some. According to the economist Menzie David Chinn at the University of Wisconsin, yes, state and local employees in the state are somewhat undercompensated compared to their private-sector counterparts. First of all, here’s a chart, which reflects national averages not Wisconsin ones but is interesting anyway, comparing public- and private-sector workers’ wages (I assume whoever made this chart means wages specifically, which refers to money compensation only and not benefits). It shows that at every level of education except “less than high school,” private-sector employees out-earn public-sector ones. The difference gets more stark as you go up the education ladder, as you might expect. However, the “all” category on this chart shows that the sectors are almost exactly even on wages, which is explained I suppose by the large number of less-than-high-school educated people who are in public-sector unions. Another chart compares total compensation, including benefits, and the story is basically the same. Now to Wisconsin itself. Chinn does a regression analysis finding, he says, that public-sector workers are less-well compensated than private counterparts to the tune of 4.8%. Presumably, given the above, the workers with college degrees are in the 8 or even 10% range, higher in some cases. That’s not chopped liver. So they make less money. But the benefits issue is the public-sector unions’ Achilles heel. Politifact, which I trusted when it exposed Sarah Palin’s absurd lies (aha! So I worked in a mention) so I might as well also trust today, looked into Governor Scott Walker’s claim that “most state employees could pay twice as much toward their health care premiums and it would still be half the national average.” It found the claim to be true. You can read all the facts in the preceding link, but basically, private-sector employees pay 25-30% of the cost of their healthcare premiums in the US, and Wisconsin public employees generally pay just 6%. The understanding has long been that public-sector employees make less, so they should have better benefits. There’s some logic to that. But it seems that the wage differential against them isn’t as great as the benefits differential working for them. Krugman alludes to Wisconsin union leaders saying they were willing to make concessions. I know not what of he speaks, but it makes political and moral sense to me for the state’s union leaders to say okay, our people will contribute more to their healthcare packages and put a non-fake number on the table. That would give them the place of prominence on the moral high ground. And it would expose Walker’s one-sidedness for what it is. If he were trying to bargain an outcome in good faith, that would be one thing. But he’s not. He’s decreasing the state’s take from corporations by nearly 30% and not asking sacrifice of anyone at the top of the pyramid while bullying the people who mop the floors in the university’s buildings. Put me down on the side of the floor moppers. If public-sector unions are busted in the US, combined with the Citizens United decision, corporate influence on our politics would double, triple, who knows. But I have to say that I can see why a ,000-a-year private-sector worker with two kids who’s paying 30% toward their healthcare coverage would be a upset at the deal the public-sector workers have. Democrats and liberals should fix this imbalance before those on the right “fix it” for them.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogThose Wisconsin unions

Related posts:UK Uncut protesters target Barclays over tax avoidance Acas booklet on flexible working Can Countries go Bankrupt?

February 22 2011, 10:25am | Comments »

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New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/new-zealand-earthquake-65-dead

London talk

New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people - http://distributedresearch.net/blog...

Tuesday

from Andy Roberts DARnet

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February 22 2011, 7:53am | Comments »

I posted to distributedresearch.net

New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/new-zealand-earthquake-65-dead

Here’s the link to the People Finder tool http://christchurch-2011.person-finder.appspot.com/ act of god

This article titled “New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people” was written by Ben Quinn and Mark Tran, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 22nd February 2011 13.18 UTC At least 65 people have died and more than 100 are missing after a powerful earthquake struck the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch, collapsing buildings, burying vehicles under debris and sending rescuers scrambling to help people trapped under rubble. The 6.3-magnitude quake struck the country’s second largest city on a busy weekday afternoon. The mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, has declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre. “Make no mistake this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city,” he said. Power and water was cut and hundreds of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared throughout Christchurch in the aftermath of the quake, which was centred three miles from the city. The US Geological Survey said the tremor occurred at a depth of 2.5 miles.

After rushing to the city within hours of the quake, the prime minister of New Zealand, John Key, said the death toll was 65, and may rise. “It is just a scene of utter devastation. We may well be witnessing New Zealand’s darkest day.” The spire of the city’s well-known stone cathedral toppled into a central square, while buildings collapsed in on themselves and streets were strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. The multi-storey Pyne Gould Guinness Building, housing more than 200 workers, has collapsed with an unknown number of people trapped inside. Television pictures showed rescuers, many of them office workers, dragging severely injured people from the rubble. Elsewhere, police said debris rained down on two buses, crushing them, while emergency workers were moving to rescue survivors trapped in other partially collapsed buildings across the city. New Zealand’s TV3 said 24 people were trapped on the 17th floor of the 19-storey Forsyth Barr office building, near the cathedral. The building was intact but a stairwell had collapsed, it said. Christchurch hospital had to deal with many injured residents. “We’ve had a lot of people at the emergency department … a significant number, a lot of major injuries,” said David Meates, the chief executive of the Canterbury health board. “They are largely crushes and cuts types of injuries and chest pain as well,” he said, adding some of the more seriously injured could be evacuated to other cities, where hospitals have been put on alert and prepared to accept casualties. All army medical staff have been mobilised, while several hundred troops were helping with the rescue, officials said. A woman trapped in one of the buildings said she was terrified and waiting for rescuers to reach her six hours after the quake. “I thought the best place was under the desk but the ceiling collapsed on top. I can’t move and I’m just terrified,” office worker Anne Voss told TV3 news. Emergency shelters had been set up in schools and at a racecourse, as night approached. Helicopters dumped giant buckets of water to try to douse a fire in one tall office building. A crane helped rescue workers trapped in another office block. “I was in the square right outside the cathedral – the whole front has fallen down and there were people running from there. There were people inside as well,” said John Gurr, a camera technician who was in the city centre when the quake hit. The city’s historic cathedral was one of the buildings that took significant damage, while cars were buried under rubble and roads buckled as the tremor opened fissures in the ground. “It is huge. We just don’t know if there are people under this rubble,” a priest standing outside the rubble of the damaged cathedral told Television New Zealand. Search and rescue teams are working through the night to look for survivors, the civil defence director, John Hamilton, said. “We have to be prepared to accept that it is going to be a heavy toll,” he said, adding that it was unclear how many people were trapped in buildings. “There could well be people who are stuck in buildings overnight. I can’t confirm, but I would expect that’s in all probability the case.” All airports and airspace in the country were shut down and all flights into, out of and around the country were put on hold immediately after the earthquake. Airways NZ, New Zealand’s national air traffic control organisation, is based in Christchurch. Local TV showed bodies being pulled out of rubble strewn around the city centre, though it was unclear whether any of them were alive. It was the second time in five months that the city has been struck by a major earthquake. Last September’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake was 30 miles west of Christchurch. About 100 people were treated at hospital with earthquake-related injuries then. Christchurch has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks since that earthquake, causing extensive damage and a handful of injuries, but no deaths. New Zealand, which sits between the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates, records on average more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which about 20 would normally top magnitude 5.0. Christchurch is home to about 350,000 people and is a tourist centre and gateway to the South Island.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogNew Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people

Related posts:Small earthquake in Kent, not many dead. Canterbury Cathederal People Per Hour now accepting Paypal

February 22 2011, 7:53am | Comments »

I posted to distributedresearch.net

New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/new-zealand-earthquake-65-dead

Here’s the link to the People Finder tool http://christchurch-2011.person-finder.appspot.com/ act of god

This article titled “New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people” was written by Ben Quinn and Mark Tran, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 22nd February 2011 13.18 UTC At least 65 people have died and more than 100 are missing after a powerful earthquake struck the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch, collapsing buildings, burying vehicles under debris and sending rescuers scrambling to help people trapped under rubble. The 6.3-magnitude quake struck the country’s second largest city on a busy weekday afternoon. The mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, has declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre. “Make no mistake this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city,” he said. Power and water was cut and hundreds of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared throughout Christchurch in the aftermath of the quake, which was centred three miles from the city. The US Geological Survey said the tremor occurred at a depth of 2.5 miles.

After rushing to the city within hours of the quake, the prime minister of New Zealand, John Key, said the death toll was 65, and may rise. “It is just a scene of utter devastation. We may well be witnessing New Zealand’s darkest day.” The spire of the city’s well-known stone cathedral toppled into a central square, while buildings collapsed in on themselves and streets were strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. The multi-storey Pyne Gould Guinness Building, housing more than 200 workers, has collapsed with an unknown number of people trapped inside. Television pictures showed rescuers, many of them office workers, dragging severely injured people from the rubble. Elsewhere, police said debris rained down on two buses, crushing them, while emergency workers were moving to rescue survivors trapped in other partially collapsed buildings across the city. New Zealand’s TV3 said 24 people were trapped on the 17th floor of the 19-storey Forsyth Barr office building, near the cathedral. The building was intact but a stairwell had collapsed, it said. Christchurch hospital had to deal with many injured residents. “We’ve had a lot of people at the emergency department … a significant number, a lot of major injuries,” said David Meates, the chief executive of the Canterbury health board. “They are largely crushes and cuts types of injuries and chest pain as well,” he said, adding some of the more seriously injured could be evacuated to other cities, where hospitals have been put on alert and prepared to accept casualties. All army medical staff have been mobilised, while several hundred troops were helping with the rescue, officials said. A woman trapped in one of the buildings said she was terrified and waiting for rescuers to reach her six hours after the quake. “I thought the best place was under the desk but the ceiling collapsed on top. I can’t move and I’m just terrified,” office worker Anne Voss told TV3 news. Emergency shelters had been set up in schools and at a racecourse, as night approached. Helicopters dumped giant buckets of water to try to douse a fire in one tall office building. A crane helped rescue workers trapped in another office block. “I was in the square right outside the cathedral – the whole front has fallen down and there were people running from there. There were people inside as well,” said John Gurr, a camera technician who was in the city centre when the quake hit. The city’s historic cathedral was one of the buildings that took significant damage, while cars were buried under rubble and roads buckled as the tremor opened fissures in the ground. “It is huge. We just don’t know if there are people under this rubble,” a priest standing outside the rubble of the damaged cathedral told Television New Zealand. Search and rescue teams are working through the night to look for survivors, the civil defence director, John Hamilton, said. “We have to be prepared to accept that it is going to be a heavy toll,” he said, adding that it was unclear how many people were trapped in buildings. “There could well be people who are stuck in buildings overnight. I can’t confirm, but I would expect that’s in all probability the case.” All airports and airspace in the country were shut down and all flights into, out of and around the country were put on hold immediately after the earthquake. Airways NZ, New Zealand’s national air traffic control organisation, is based in Christchurch. Local TV showed bodies being pulled out of rubble strewn around the city centre, though it was unclear whether any of them were alive. It was the second time in five months that the city has been struck by a major earthquake. Last September’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake was 30 miles west of Christchurch. About 100 people were treated at hospital with earthquake-related injuries then. Christchurch has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks since that earthquake, causing extensive damage and a handful of injuries, but no deaths. New Zealand, which sits between the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates, records on average more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which about 20 would normally top magnitude 5.0. Christchurch is home to about 350,000 people and is a tourist centre and gateway to the South Island.

Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogNew Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people

Related posts:Small earthquake in Kent, not many dead. Canterbury Cathederal People Per Hour now accepting Paypal

February 22 2011, 7:53am | Comments »

I posted to friendfeed.com

Libya – Gaddafi’s time is running out

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/libya-gaddafis-time-is-running-out

London talk

Libya – Gaddafi’s time is running out - http://distributedresearch.net/blog...

Tuesday

from Andy Roberts DARnet

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February 22 2011, 5:28am | Comments »

I posted to distributedresearch.net

Libya – Gaddafi’s time is running out

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/libya-gaddafis-time-is-running-out

Time is running out for Colonel Gaddaffi’s regime in Libya as the spreading region-wide revolution of the arab spring appears unstoppable.

Deep cracks were showing and Gaddafi seemed to be losing vital support, as Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigned, air force pilots defected and major government buildings were targeted during clashes in the capital. At least 61 people were killed in the capital city on Monday, witnesses told Al Jazeera. Protesters called for another night of defiance against the Arab world’s longest-serving leader, despite a crackdown by authorities Two Libyan fighter jets landed in Malta, their pilots defecting after they said they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said. http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/02/2011221215421542497.html Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogLibya – Gaddafi’s time is running out

Related posts:Libya protests: ‘Now we’ve seen the blood our fears have gone’ How will Libya’s protests play out? Oil price climbs on Libyan unrest

February 22 2011, 5:28am | Comments »

I posted to distributedresearch.net

Libya – Gaddafi’s time is running out

http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/libya-gaddafis-time-is-running-out

Time is running out for Colonel Gaddaffi’s regime in Libya as the spreading region-wide revolution of the arab spring appears unstoppable.

Deep cracks were showing and Gaddafi seemed to be losing vital support, as Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigned, air force pilots defected and major government buildings were targeted during clashes in the capital. At least 61 people were killed in the capital city on Monday, witnesses told Al Jazeera. Protesters called for another night of defiance against the Arab world’s longest-serving leader, despite a crackdown by authorities Two Libyan fighter jets landed in Malta, their pilots defecting after they said they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said. http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/02/2011221215421542497.html Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogLibya – Gaddafi’s time is running out

Related posts:Libya protests: ‘Now we’ve seen the blood our fears have gone’ How will Libya’s protests play out? Oil price climbs on Libyan unrest

February 22 2011, 5:28am | Comments »

London Breaks

Those Wisconsin unions

Those Wisconsin unions

Those Wisconsin unions

New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people

New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people

New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people

Libya – Gaddafi’s time is running out

Libya – Gaddafi’s time is running out

Libya – Gaddafi’s time is running out

London Theatre Breaks Links

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