Act 10 is his friend. Unions are not. Joe Parisi does NOT follow Dane County values! His website slider about “standing up for workers rights” is laughable. Check this out! This is just so gross. Does it for Friday news when no one is looking and we’re going into a holiday week. Cowardly.
IMPORTANT DANE COUNTY UPDATE
(from Brian Standing)Dane County Executive Joe Parisi is attempting to unilaterally kill 2014-2016 negotiated collective bargaining agreements, in the wake of the state Supreme Court decision legitimizing Act 10.
Parisi announced this in an e-mail to county employees at 4:53 p..m. yesterday. The timing is curious, since it comes right after the budget was passed, and more than four months after the questionable legal advice upon which it was based.
This now gives county unions a little over a month to scramble and reorganize (if they can) under the county’s employee benefit handbook structure. …
It’s not clear if the Exec can unilaterally undo something that was approved by the county board, but he sure as hell is going to try.
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
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Here is contact information for Joe Parisi:
City County Building, Room 421
210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: (608) 266-4114
Fax: (608) 266-2643
TTY: Call Wisconsin Relay 711
Email: parisi@countyofdane.com
Here is the email:
From: Parisi, Joseph
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2014 5:43 PM
To: #All Dane Co Recipients
Subject: Important Message To EmployeesOn September 12, 2013, Dane County adopted a new employee handbook committing to protecting the rights, benefits, and working conditions for our workforce.
In doing so, we did what no other place did. We did it first. We did it for a purpose: supporting our workers.
Nearly a year later, the Wisconsin Supreme Court handed down a ruling necessitating the use of that firewall we preemptively put in place.
Following this summer’s Supreme Court ruling, I asked lawyers from both inside and outside of county government for in-depth analysis of how that Court decision affects Dane County. Their unpleasant conclusions are clear: our contracts are no longer legally allowed, following the expiration of the 2014 agreement.
Fortunately, this is why we adopted the brand new Dane County Employee Handbook fifteen months ago.
We may not like or agree with the Court’s decision, but Dane County cannot violate the law. While we considered continuing to enforce the contracts beyond the end of this year, the consequences of doing so would have brought costly legal action and significant financial penalties, creating new budget hardships in an environment already flush with outside challenges that threaten the quality of services Dane County government provides.
What does all of this mean for you?
Similar to the City of Madison, Dane County will be legally prevented from deducting union dues from your paycheck starting next month, the first pay period of 2015. Per the state law, this change does not apply to sworn public safety employees.
Worker rights and protections negotiated over the years on behalf of the workforce will remain, cemented in our new Dane County Employee Handbook, instead of through contracts.
We will ask the County Board to adopt the wage increase and health care concession negotiated in good faith for 2016, in the Employee Handbook.
While the fight isn’t over, we must also be mindful that attempting to ignore the Court’s decision and knowingly breaking the law is not an option and does no justice to the important work we know lies ahead. The legacy of the rights of working people across our county and state won’t be defined by the recent misguided actions of state officials. These are snapshots in time.
Instead, the legacy for what we believe in will be defined through a renewed focus on and commitment to the needs of working families, a shared resolve ensuring all have access to opportunity, and our continued commitment to the kind of quality of life we want for not only ours, but also future generations.
I grew up the son of a construction worker and a school secretary. I was raised in a union household where the pay that came home put food on the table, allowed for life’s necessities, and provided hope that the next generation might do a little better than the last.
That appreciation for the value of a hard day’s work carried forward in my professional life.
That’s why when the Governor introduced Act 10, I fought with my colleagues filibustering the legislature for 62 hours straight. I helped champions of the working class like Jesse Jackson access an otherwise barricaded State Capitol in the midst of one of the most tumultuous times in our state’s long history.
And as County Executive I worked with our County Board last summer to make sure protections for our workers, bargained through decades of mutual respect and a shared collaborative spirit, were written into Dane County Ordinance.
I promise you that despite the changes brought about by the passage of Act 10, in Dane County your voices will continue to be heard and continue to matter.
Thank you for all you do on behalf of the citizens of Dane County.
The link to employee handbook is below:
https://www.countyofdane.com/emprel/Joseph T. Parisi
Dane County Executive
Room 421, City-County Building
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
(608) 266-4114
(608) 266-9138 TDD
(608) 266-2643 Fax
parisi@countyofdane.com
www.countyofdane.com
Follow the County Exec on Twitter: @DaneCoJoe
Join the County Exec on Facebook: www.facebook.com/joe.parisi.376
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Um, Dane County COULD not follow the law. It happens all the time, its what court cases are made of. What would happen if we did that? Tell us more. This just seems like he didn’t try very hard.
