AltWeeklies Wire
Unions? What Unions?
Labor unions have responded to attacks with a series of poorly thought-out strategies that fed into the narrative that they were marginal and corrupt.
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
03-07-2011 |
Business & Labor
Don't Fall for the Phony Budget Crisis
Politicians and pundits from both parties tell us that the good times are over, that we've got to start living within our means. They're lying.
Democracy Comes Home to Wisconsinnew
Starting with about 10,000 workers and their supporters at the beginning of the week, numbers swelled to nearly 40,000 by Feb. 18, the largest protests in the state since the Vietnam War era.
Random Lengths News |
Paul Rosenberg |
02-25-2011 |
Business & Labor
Does Wisconsin's Health Insurance Overseer Actually Protect Consumers?new
Even when it does have regulatory authority, the state's Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) seems reluctant to throw its weight around. Of the 28 complaints we reviewed, in no instance did OCI instruct an insurance company to behave differently.
Isthmus |
Bill Lueders |
10-26-2009 |
Policy Issues
Wisconsin State Employee Union Says the Governor's Furlough Math is Faultynew
When Gov. Jim Doyle announced that all state employees would have to take mandatory 16-day furloughs to help balance the state budget, Diane Tieman was a little confused. The state doesn't pay her salary, so her forced vacation won't save Wisconsin taxpayers a dime
Isthmus |
Joe Tarr |
08-18-2009 |
Business & Labor
David Newby Hopes to Lead Labor's Comebacknew
Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President David Newby has felt despair over the past three decades of plant closings, wage cuts and union-busting. But he's convinced the labor movement has the potential to rebound.
Isthmus |
Roger Bybee |
02-09-2009 |
Business & Labor
Jerry Hancock Moves from Law Enforcement to Prison Ministrynew
Much of what the Rev. Jerry Hancock has to say about the criminal justice system sounds reasonable coming from a clergyman who heads a prison ministry program. But when you consider that he's spent more than 30 years as a lawyer in this system, many of them as a prosecutor, his perspective is positively stunning.
Isthmus |
Esty Dinur |
01-05-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Paper Mill Closing Leaves One Wisconsin Town Fighting for Its Lifenew
The struggle over the NewPage paper mill in Kimberly, Wisc., underscores the larger pattern of hurt in the heartland.
Isthmus |
Roger Bybee |
10-20-2008 |
Business & Labor
Heroin Use on the Rise in Wisconsinnew
Heroin has always had a presence in southeastern Wisconsin, and there have always been some hardcore users in the area. But things changed in the 1990s, when Colombian cocaine traffickers saw the profits that Asian producers were making on heroin, primarily China White.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
09-26-2008 |
Drugs
Nukes in Wisconsin Still Not Likelynew
Nuclear supporters claimed that Gov. Jim Doyle, who's seeking to become a green governor, wants to end the 25-year-old moratorium on building nuclear power plants in Wisconsin. The problem, though, is that this simply isn't true.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
08-15-2008 |
Environment
Milwaukee: Great for Corporationsnew
But property taxpayers get squeezed.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
08-08-2008 |
Business & Labor
WMC Already Collecting Dividends from Buying the State Courtnew
The state Supreme Court, state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and the big business lobby Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) handed Wisconsin residents a $350 million tax hike—and gave corporations a new tax break.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
07-18-2008 |
Business & Labor
Wisconsin Fails Health Insurance Protectionsnew
Conservatives' solution to the health care crisis is to provide tax credits to allow individuals to buy their health insurance in a competitive marketplace. But in Wisconsin, as in many other states, the individual health insurance market does little to protect the consumers it is supposed to serve.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
06-20-2008 |
Science
Racial Disparities Prevail in Wisconsin's Justice Systemnew
New studies from The Sentencing Project, Human Rights Watch, and a governor's commission show the state's justice system treats black and white drug offenders differently.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
05-16-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Stalled Great Lakes Water Compact Progressesnew
A new draft of the Great Lakes Basin Compact has been tentatively agreed to by Wisonsin Gov. Jim Doyle, Senate Democrats and once-reluctant Assembly Republicans. Legislatures in four of the eight Great Lakes states have already approved the current version of the compact.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
04-18-2008 |
Environment
