The Reforms, the Reality
In a nutshell, the legislation that prompted the original outburst by Wisconsin’s government unions would force most state employees to contribute more to their pensions and health benefits than they currently do. According to an analysis by state Representative Kevin Petersen, because “the 16 furlough days endured by state workers during the past 2 years will no longer be mandated,” when all of the changes are taken together, the take-home-pay reduction for most government personnel, excluding public safety workers like police and firefighters, could be as low as 4.2 percent. He found that if a state worker making $50,000 a year — “Note: $50,000 is the base salary; it does not include state provided fringe benefits including healthcare, pension, sick days, vacation, etc.” — opted out of the union (and paying union dues), “the entire loss to the employee’s current income would be about $175 per month.” And the money would be spent on “their personal healthcare policy and retirement.”
The bill would also prohibit most government workers from collectively bargaining for anything other than their salaries, or from demanding pay increases above the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation. To bypass the salary cap would require voter approval. Additionally, the bill would stop unions from forcing public employees to pay dues. It would also cut some spending in an effort to rein in the state’s massive budget deficit.
Gov. Walker explained the situation in a speech to legislators: “Most state workers only pay about 6 percent of their premium costs for their health care plan,” he said. “Asking public employees to make … a premium payment of 12 percent, which is about half of the national average, would save the state more than $30 million over three months.”
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